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THE  REPROACH  OF  ISLAM 


THE 

REPROACH  OF  ISLAM 


BY   THE    E.EV. 


W^Hf  T/G  A I R  D  N  E  R 

B.A.    (OXON),    SOMETIME    EXHIBITIONER    OF    TRINITY    COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


LONDON 

STUDENT   VOLUNTEER   iMISSIONARY   UNION 
93  &  94  CHANCERY  LANE,  W.C. 

1901) 


AD   MAIOREM   DEI   SPIRIT  US    GLORIAM 

SPIKITUS  IESU 

QUI 

ECCLESIAE 
SOLUM   EST   PATRIMONIUM 

MUNDI 
SOLA  SPES 


EL   CAHIRAE 

DIB    FENTECOSTOS      MCMJX 


EDITORIAL  NOTE 

THIS  text-book,  like  "  The  Uplift  of  China  " 
and  "  The  Desire  of  India  "  is  issued  con 
jointly  by  a  number  of  the  Missionary 
Societies  in  Great  Britain  for  the  use  of 
Mission  Study  Circles.  The  Editorial  Com 
mittee  have  revised  the  manuscript,  added 
to  it  in  places,  and  adapted  it  for  the 
use  of  these  circles  ;  and  the  maps,  ap 
pendices,  references  for  further  study, 
bibliography,  etc.,  have  also  been  prepared 
with  the  same  end  in  view.  In  addition, 
"  Suggestions  to  Leaders  "  and  "  Outline 
Programmes  of  Study  "  have  been  prepared 
by  the  mission  study  departments  of  the 
various  Missionary  Societies. 

The  object  of  the  text-book  is,  therefore, 
to  meet  the  needs  of  those  who  study  the 
text-book  chapter  by  chapter  and  meet 
periodically  in  study  circles  for  discussion. 
The  chapters  are  not  intended  to  be  ex 
haustive  in  treatment,  but  each  of  them 
presents  material  for  thought  concerning 


vi         The  Reproach  of  Islam 

certain  definite  questions  suggested  in  the 
Outline  Programmes. 

The  Editorial  Committee  are  grateful 
for  the  co-operation  of  all  those  who  have 
helped  in  revision  of  the  manuscript  and 
in  all  other  matters  connected  with  the 
preparation  of  the  book.  Special  thanks 
are  due  to  the  Rev.  St  Clair  Tisdall,  D.D., 
for  the  Appendix  on  "  Mohammedan  Sects," 
and  for  other  advice  and  information. 
The  Committee  also  desire  to  thank  Messrs 
Oliphant,  Anderson,  &  Ferrier,  The  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  Messrs  Funk 
&  Wagnall,  for  permission  to  reproduce  the 
illustrations  facing  pp.  8,  185,  241.  They 
are  also  grateful  to  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  for  the  kind  use  of  books  used  in 
connection  with  the  editorial  work,  and  to 
missionary  societies  and  private  friends  for 
the  loan  of  photographs. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

IF  this  book  cannot  claim  to  be  the  result 
of  any  great  originality  of  research,  or 
depth  and  extent  of  reading,  it  may  at 
least  claim  to  be  the  fruit  of  ten  years  spent 
in  the  East  in  one  of  the  great  centres  of 
Islam,  and  of  some  sincere  hard  thinking, 
which  has  been  unsparingly  given  both  to 
the  object  itself,  as  studied  in  experience, 
and  to  the  reading  with  which  that  ex 
perience  has  been  supplemented. 

It  is  one  of  the  galling  necessities  of  such 
a  task  as  this,  that  the  author  seems  to  be 
forced  into  playing  either  the  advocate, — 
which  he  feels  is  partial ;  or  the  judge,— 
which  he  feels  is  unfair.  He  hovers  pain 
fully  between  each  position,  content  with 
neither.  It  must  suffice  him  if  he  can 
humbly  claim  that  he  has  tried  to  burk  no 
fact  and  to  blink  no  truth  ;  to  weigh  as 
scrupulously  as  he  can  words  and  judg 
ments  ;  to  give  to  all  the  facts  that  are 
known  to  him  their  full  weight  before 
embarking  on  that  most  perilous  of  all 
things — a  generalisation.  No  writer  of  a 


vii 


viii       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

book  like  this  can  pretend  that  he  writes 
it  without  what  friends  call  strong  con 
victions, — enemies,  strong  prejudices.  But 
he  can  at  least  see  to  it  that  all  his  views 
have  a  rationale ;  and  that  his  fundamental 
position  is  not  made  void  by  facts  which  he 
refuses  to  face. 

In  Chapter  II.  acknowledgment  is  due 
chiefly  to  Sir  William  Muir's  and  Pro 
fessor  Margoliouth's  lives  of  Mohammed. 
It  has  seemed  to  the  writer  that  the  graft 
ing  on  to  the  former's  view  of  Mohammed 
the  considerations  which  are  the  original 
features  of  the  latter's  does,  indeed,  pre 
sent  one  with  a  four-square  theory,  which 
covers  all  the  facts  of  an  admittedly 
difficult  phenomenon — the  phenomenon  of 
Mohammed.  The  theory  is  somewhat 
complex  just  because  the  thing  to  be  ex 
plained  is  very  complex.  It  may  seem 
strange  to  some  that  two  views  of  the 
Prophet,  which  to  them  seem  almost  con 
tradictory,  should  be  adopted  as  supple 
mentary.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  of  all  things  in  this  puzzling  world, 
the  theocratic  autocrat  is  bound  to  give 
rise  to  the  most  contradictory  puzzles  of  all. 
Hebrew  history  itself  affords  no  parallel : 
—a  David  was  supplemented  by  an  order  of 


Author's  Preface  ix 

priests  and  confronted  by  fellow  prophets  : 
Isaiah  was  limited  by  Hezekiah,  Hezekiah 
by  Isaiah.  But  what  would  David  have 
been  had  he  added  to  his  sacro-sanct 
claims  as  Messiah  Isaiah's  absolute  con 
fidence  in  his  own  inspiration,  and  had 
Nathan  and  Gad  either  not  existed  at  all, 
or  been  only  used  to  .endorse  all  his  actions 
in  the  name  of  God  ? 

In  regard  to  Chapter  III.,  all  Christians 
must,  one  thinks,  feel  their  debt  to  Mr  T.  W. 
Arnold,  for  throwing  into  such  strong  relief, 
in  his  "  Preaching  of  Islam,"  facts  and 
truths  which  had  got  twisted,  or  ignored, 
by  writers  on  the  subject.  And  if  one 
expresses  a  doubt  whether  that  writer 
himself  gives  an  entirely  true  view  of  this 
whole  subject,  one  must  remember  that  he 
does  not  pretend  to  be  judging  what  is,  and 
what  is  not,  legitimate  in  missionary  ex 
tension,  in  the  sight  of  God  :  he  only  claims 
to  state  what  Islam  conceived  as  legitimate, 
and  contends  that  on  the  whole  Islam  has 
kept  within  its  own  limits,  such  as  they 
were  and  are. 

Chapter  IV.  is,  the  writer  confesses,  a 
frank  criticism  of  Islam.  It  is  at  least 
a  sincere  one.  Perhaps  some  would  have 
liked  a  mere  exposition.  But  is  there  such 


x          The  Reproach  of  Islam 

a  thing  as  a  mere  exposition  ?  The  mere 
selection  of  the  facts,  or  the  way  in  which 
they  are  set  forth,  is  in  itself  a  criticism. 
Is  not  this  so  ? 

In  Chapters  V.-VII.  the  writer  has  to 
thank  many  friends  and  fellow- workers,  who 
have  given  him  valuable  information  in  the 
course  of  a  correspondence  undertaken  in 
special  view  of  this  book — especially  the 
Rev.  Canon  G.  Dale,  of  the  Universities' 
Mission ;  Dr  W.  R.  Miller,  of  the  C.M.S. 
Mission  to  Hausaland  ;  and  Mr  Reid,  of  the 
North  Africa  Mission,  Tripoli.  He  is  also 
greatly  indebted  to  Mr  H.  F.  Ridley,  of  the 
C.I.M.,  Kan-su,  N.W.  China,  for  two  long 
and  interesting  letters  in  which  he  checks 
exaggerated  estimates  of  Islam's  numbers, 
strength,  and  potentiality  in  China. 

In  writing  Chapters  V.-VII.  very  un 
stinting  use  was  made  of  Dr  S.  Zwemer's 
most  valuable  research  and  labour.  The 
case  would  require  an  apology  rather  than 
an  acknowledgment,  did  not  the  author 
know  well  how  his  friend  and  fellow- 
worker  would  view  the  making  further  use 
of  his  work,  in  the  cause  which  he  has  done 
perhaps  more  than  any  one  in  this  genera 
tion  to  forward. 

Lastly,    warm    thanks    are    due    to    the 


Author's  Preface  xi 

Committee  of  the  United  Conference  on 
Missionary  Education,  for  their  unstinted 
labour  in  helping  to  mould  this  book  into 
the  form  required  for  its  peculiar  purpose. 

There  is  one  word  of  explanation  which 
the  author  would  like  to  make,  to  avoid  the 
chance  of  misunderstandings  which  would 
be  especially  regrettable.  Throughout  the 
book  a  very  special  emphasis  has  been 
placed  on  the  Person  and  work  of  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus.  If  the  whole  book,  in  its 
entire  scope  and  significance,  does  not 
explicate  these  words,  the  writer  will  ac 
count  it  to  have  failed.  But  this  much 
may  be  said  here.  The  expression  is 
pregnant  to  the  very  highest  degree.  It 
means  all  that  God  in  Christ  is  ;  all  that 
the  heart  of  Him  who  was  and  is  Jesus 
contained  and  contains  ;  His  whole  char 
acter,  His  whole  view  of  the  world  and  God 
and  religion  and  man  and  man's  healing — 
His  Spirit : — all  this,  clothing  itself  in  the 
lives  of  those  who  confess  His  name,  taking 
flesh  in  the  life  of  His  Church.  .  .  .  For 
the  rest^  let  the  book  itself  speak  ;  it  being 
well  understood,  that  this  insistence  on 
the  utter  and  fundamental  necessity  for  a 
spiritual  Christianity  is  not  for  one  moment 


Xll 


The  Reproach  of  Islam 


intended  to  disparage  or  throw  doubt  on 
the  necessity  of  order  and  form,  and  all  that 
goes  therewith.  But  the  vital  thing  is  that 
they  be  informed  by  the  Spirit  from  within. 
If  not,  they  abide  indeed,  but  only  like 
the  dried  husks  and  pods  that  litter  the 
roads  after  the  life  that  once  informed  them 
and  quickened  them  from  within  has  fled. 
How  are  the  pages  of  history,  how  are  the 
countries  of  Orient  and  Occident,  thus 
littered  and  strewn  with  the  husks  of 
churches,  systems,  theologies,  organisa 
tions,  rituals,  forms,  creeds,  orders,  canons 
.  .  .  which  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  may  once 
have  caused  to  grow !  true  organisms 
once,  now  alas  !  to  all  appearance  little 
more  than  outsides. 

But,  ever  and  always  "  abideth  hope." 
It  was  said  of  that  Spirit  ..."  that  He 
may  abide  with  you  for  ever."  .  .  . 

"  Prophesy  unto  the  wind,  prophesy, 
son  of  man,  and  say  to  the  wind,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Come  from  the  four- 
winds,  0  Spirit,  and  breathe  on  these  slain, 
that  they  may  live." 

W.  H.  T.  G. 

CAIRO 
Whitsunday,   1909- 


NOTE  ON  THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF 
ARABIC  WORDS  AND  NAMES 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  distinguish  the- 
various  consonants  which  are  peculiar  to  Arabic. 
Such  an  attempt  would  have  involved  the  use  of 
tiresome  diacritic  marks,  which  disfigure  the  page 
and  are  equally  useless  to  the  reader  who  knows,, 
and  who  does  not  know,  Arabic.  The  only  consonant 
that  calls  for  remark  is  kh  (e.g.  in  KhdlicT),  which  is 
pronounced  like  the  Scottish  ch  in  loch.  Gh  has 
also  been  written  : — it  is  pronounced  rather  like  a 
continental  gr,  grasseye.  But  in  difficulties  let  it  be  g. 
Very  different  is  it  with  the  vowels,  which  can  and 
should  be  pronounced  approximately  correctly.  And 
if  the  simple  indications  given  below  are  observed, 
the  reader  will  find  that  he  avoids  the  painful  hash 
made  by  the  non- Arabic  scholar  when  he  pronounces 
Arabic  names  without  guidance,  and  he  may  have 
peace  in  the  thought  that  his  rendering  is  quite 
respectably  near  the  mark,  even  when  the  consonants 
are  pronounced  as  in  English. 

(1)  A  circumflex  has  been  used  to  denote  a  long 
vowel.1     And     that    vowel    practically    always    has 
the  accent.     Other  vowels   in   the   same   word  are 
(practically)  short. 

(2)  In  words  without  circumflex  it  may  be  assumed 
that  all  the  vowels  are  short.    The  accent  is  generally 
self-evident,  but  is  occasionally  noted  (see  next  page). 

(3)  The  values  given  to  the  long  vowels  must  be 
the  continental,  not  the  English  ones.     That  is  to 
say,  a  like  the  a  in  ah  or  spa,  e.g.  Khalid  (Khahlid, 
not   Khaylid) :  i  like   the   second   i   in   quinine,   e.g. 
Khadijah  (Khadeeja,  not  Khadeija) ;  and  it  like  the 
oo  in  soon,  e.g.  Mahmtid  (Mahmood,  not  Mahmyood). 

(4)  The  short  vowels  are  likewise  very  simple  :  a 

1  The  circumflex  has  not  been  marked  in  every  case,  e.g.  I  si  dm 
has  been  written  Islam  throughout.     [ED.] 

xiii 


xiv       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

like  the  English  a  in  man,1  e.g.  Mafmun,  (the  apos 
trophe  is  sometimes  written  to  indicate  that  the 
syllable  before  it  must  be  finished  up  sharp  and  the 
next  syllable  begun  afresh) ;  i  like  the  i  in  pin,  e.g. 
Ibn ;  and  u  like  the  u  in  full,  not  like  the  u  in  mud, 
e.g.  Uhud.  In  the  latter  word  both  the  us  are 
pronounced  north -country  fashion  as  in  full,  not  mud, 
and  the  accent  is  on  the  first  syllable. 

(5)  A  few  names  have  been  given  their  con 
ventional  spelling  when  it  results  in  a  pronunciation 
sufficiently  near  to  the  original,  and  when  a  change 
would  have  seemed  rather  pedantic  :  e.g.  Mohammed 
(accent  on  the  a, — we  have  passed  for  ever  from  the 
days  of  Mahomet,  pronounced  Mayomett !).  For  the 
information  of  accurate  persons  it  may  be  said  that 
Mohammed  is,  properly,  Muhammad,  and  Moslem 
properly  Muslim,  to  which  names  the  above  rules 
may  be  applied.  The  double  in  in  the  former  case 
is  pronounced  like  double  letters  in  Italian,  not 
English  :  the  secret  may  be  discovered  by  the 
reader's  discovering  how,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  has 
always  pronounced  two  words  the  first  of  which  ends, 
the  latter  begins,  with  m.  Imagine,  in  fact,  that 
you  were  saying  to  a  child  three  nonsense  words, 
pronounced  rapidly  together,  moo  hum  mud.  Try 
it.  Void  Muhammad. 

AYESHA.  A'uha,  first  syllable  long  and  accented  and  separated 
from  the  next  two,  which  are  short. 

CALIPH.     Arabic  Khalifa,  or  "  Successor"  to  the  Prophet. 

YATHRKB.     Both  syllables  are  short ;  accent  on  the  first. 

MOSLEMS.  Properly,  Muslims',  participle  of  isldm:  i.e.  those 
who  surrender  to  God. 

OMAR.  Properly,  Umar  ;  the  first  syllable  is  short,  but  accented. 

1  Only  when  followed  by  an  apostrophe  or  an  h  ;  elsewhere 
more  like  the  French  "e"  in  le,  or  English  "u"  in  mud;  e.;j. 
Muhammad  (Moohummud).  [W.  S.  C.  T.] 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

EDITORIAL  NOTE            .....  v 

AUTHOR'S  PREFACE        .                            .  .       vii 

NOTE  ON  PRONUNCIATION  .      xiii 

CHAP.     I.  THE  EXTENT  OF  ISLAM       '  .  _  1 

„       II.  WHENCE  CAME  IT?  .              .  .       32 

„     III.   How  CAME  IT  ?        .              .  .11 

„      IV.   WHAT  Is  IT?            .  .     127 

7,       V.   How  WORKS  IT  ?     .              .  .174- 

„      VI.   How  SAVE  IT?— (1)  The  Past  .     218 

„    VII.   How  SAVE  IT  ?— (2)  The  Present  <  260 

„  VIII.  How  SAVE  IT?— (8)  The  Future  .     308 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  .              >.              .  .     339 

APPENDICES        .              .              .              .  .340 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    .              *..  •           .          v    .-  .     355 

MAP  INDEX       .                            .  .     359 

INDEX   .                                          .                        ,  .     36 1 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Moslems  at  Prayer,  Delhi        .         .         .  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Hindu  Temple  turned  into  a  Mosque  :  Mosque  of 

San  Sofia,  Constantinople         .         .         .         .  "  8 

Persian  Bazaar :  River  Bank,  Baghdad           .         .  17 

Mosque  of  Hussein  at  Kerbela :  Mosque  at  Abeokuta  25 

Crossing  the  Desert         .         .         .         .  40 

Desert  Life      ........  48 

Group  of  Battaks  :  Moslem  Workmen  and  Boys    .  57 

The  Kaaba 72 

Valley  of  Yermuk  :  Scene  of  Battle  of  Wacusa      .  89 

Mosque  of  Omar,  Jerusalem  .          .         .         .         .  104 

Tombs  of  the  Caliphs,  Cairo  .         .         .         .     -    .  113 


xvi       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

FACING  PAGE 

Moslems  from  Baluchistan  and  from  Central  Africa  121 
Schoolboys  learning  the  Koran  :  Moslem  Religious 

Gathering        .         .         .          .         .         .         .  136 

Jonah's  Lodging-Place—  Kaafar  :  A  Saint's  Tomb  144 

At  Prayer,  Interior  of  Mosque,  India     .         .  •;      .  153 

Moslem  Ablutions .         .         .         .         ...        V  1^0 

The  Bab  Zuwayla,  Cairo        V        .         .       '.        -.  108 

Moslem  Sheikhs 176 

Parliamentary  Election  at  Constantinople      .         .  185 

Types  of  Moslem  Women        .         .         .      . '.         .  192 

The  Shores  of  Carthage  :  Tetuan,  Morocco    .         .  200 

Moslem  Lawyers :  Group  of  Mullahs      .         .  217 

Released  Slaves :  Slave-Market,  Zanzibar      .         .  224 

Colporteur  and  Book  Depot :  Travelling  Pharmacy  232 
Facsimile   of  Part  of  Lull's  Writings:    The  Old 

Gateway  of  Bugia    .         .         .         .         .         .  241 

Armenian  Bishop  :  Armenian  Cathedral,  Julfa      .  241) 
Keith-Falconer  Memorial  Church.   Aden:  Ruins 

of  ' '  Little  Hut "  in  which  Keith-Falconer  died  256 

Mission  Church  and  Schools  :  Moslem  Scholars     .  205 

Interior  of  Al  Azhar  University,  Cairo  .        ._,         .  272 

Moslem  Convert  now  working  at  Aden  .         .'*".-  288 

Native  Christian  Teacher,  Tangier  Hospital  .         .  296 
Village   Itinerating   Work  :  Moslem  Girls  under 

Christian  Instruction,  Sudan  .         ;.         •  305 
Armenian  Christian  Dispenser  on  Tour :  Modern 

Methods  of  Itineration,  Egypt 313 

The  Mahdi's  Tomb  :  "  The  Gate  of  the  Sudan  "     .  320 
Matriculation  Class,  Bannu  High  School :  Group 

of  Christian  Workers  in  Baghdad  . 

Mosque  of  Kaid,  Cairo  .         .         ....  336 


MAPS 

PAGE. 

Centres  of  Christianity,  circa  A.  D.  600  ...        .  7 

The  Near  East        .    "    .         .         .  .         .   facing  10 

Christian  Church  at  the  Advent  of  Islam       '.  35 

Extent  of  Islam,  A.D.  800        7         .  .         .._.'.    .  81 

Extent  of  Islam,  A.D.  1480       .         .  .       .  ;:       .  11-5 

North  and  Central  Africa-  ".-•'..  ...         .  281 

The  Mohammedan  World       .         .    ;  .         .    facing  368 


THE 
REPROACH    OF    ISLAM 


1  2  Kings  v.  18. 


xvi       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

PACING  PAGE 

Moslems  from  Baluchistan  and  from  Central  Africa  121 
Schoolboys  learning  the  Koran  :  Moslem  Religious 

Gathering        .         .         .         .  "     .         .         .  136 

Jonah's  Lodging-Place— Kaafar  :  A  Saint's  Tomb  144 

At  Prayer,  Interior  of  Mosque,  India     .         .   (      ..  153 

Moslem  Ablutions .         .         .         .         .         .         ,  100 

The  Bab  Zuwayla,  Cairo        V.         .         .       •-.  168 

M^clorn    Sli^kW  T7fl 


Reproach  of  Islam. 

NOTE 

The  following  Editions  of  this  text-book  are  published  : — 

BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY,  19  Furnival  Street,  E.G. 
CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY,  Salisbury  Square,  E.C. 
LONDON  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY,  16  New  Bridge  Street,  E.C. 
[CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND  FOREIGN   MISSION  COMMITTEE,  22  Queen 

Street,  Edinburgh. 
I  UNITED   FREE   CHURCH   OF   SCOTLAND  MISSION   STUDY   COUNCIL, 

100  Princes  Street,  Edinburgh. 

STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MISSIONARY  UNION,  93  Chancery  Lane,  W.C. 
YOUN  *  PEOPLE'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT,  78  Fleet  Street,  E.C. 

An  elementary  text-book,  "The  Story  of  Islam,"  is  also 
issued  for  use  in  public  schools  and  amongst  those  for  whom 
this  text-book  may  prove  too  advanced. 

For  the  use  of  Mission  Study  Circles  reading  this  text-book 
"  Suggestions  to  Leaders "  and  Outline  Programmes  of  Study 
have  been  prepared.  The  use  of  these  "  Helps "  is  strongly 
urged  upon  the  leaders,  and  they  may  be  obtained  by  writing 
to  the  Mission  Study  Secretary  at  any  of  the  above  addresses. 

To  fctce  payt  1  of  ?<-.<•'. 


The  Mohammedan  World       .         .    /    .         .   facing 


THE 
REPROACH    OF    ISLAM 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    EXTENT    OF    ISLAM 

THERE  is  a  city,  a  garden- city,  an  emerald  Damascus, 
set  in  the  glowing  desert-plain,  beyond  the 
long  ranges  of  Lebanon,  beyond  the  snowy 
dome  of  Hermon,  Damascus,  one  of  the 
cities  that  are  in  themselves  epitomes  of 
world-history.  That  city  has  seen  many 
a  kingdom  come,  increase,  and  pass 
away.  Gods  many  and  Lords  many  have 
been  acknowledged  there,  both  before  and 
since  the  day  when  a  King,  leaning  on  a 
great  officer  of  state,  confessed1  Rimmon, 
god  of  Syria  and  of  the  plains,  mightier 
than  the  Jehovah,  whom  he  thought  to  be 
but  the  hill-god  of  a  highland  nation.  But 
Rimmon  of  Syria  passes  away,  and  Asshur 
of  Assyria,  and  Nebo  of  Babylon,  and 
Ormuzd  of  Persia,  and  Zeus  of  Hellas,  and 

1  2  Kings  v.  18. 


2          The  Reproach  of  Islam 

last  of  all  Jupiter  of  Rome.  For  the  time 
has  come  when  JEHOVAH,  the  God  of  Israel, 
is  made  known,  through  His  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  to  be  the  God  and  Father  of  all. 
.  .  .  Who  is  this  coming  from  Jerusalem, 
with  garments  drenched  in  the  blood  of 
saints  from  the  city  of  Jehovah  ?  A  man 
with  threatening  mien  is  approaching  this 
city  of  the  ages.  But  a  dazzling  light  from 
heaven  strikes  him  down ;  a  voice  more 
terrible  than  thunder  speaks  to  him.  A 
divine  work,  begun  then  and  there,  is  com 
pleted  in  a  room  of  a  house  overlooking  the 
main  bazaar  of  the  great  city;  and  that 
man  rises  from  his  bed,  redeemed  and  made 
whole,  assured  now  that  in  this  JESUS, 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  the  whole  earth,  has 
fully  and  finally  revealed  Himself ;  that  the 
future  is  His  ;  and  that  nought  remains  now 
but  to  bring  all  nations  of  the  earth  to  His 
pierced  feet,  through  the  power  of  His  Cross 
and  the  mighty  working  of  His  Spirit.  .  .  . 
The  mighty  task  is  entered  upon  ;  it  proves 
a  costly  one  ;  blood,  and  tears,  and  lives 
are  poured  out  on  it :  but  the  issue  is  sure, 
—the  Cross  has  won  the  day  !  And  lo,  there 
arises  in  that  great  city  of  the  East  and  of 
the  West  a  glorious  fane,  where  the  One  God 


The  Extent  of  Islam  3 

is  worshipped  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And  the  Cross,  the  symbol  of  Suffering, 
has  became  the  symbol  of  Triumph,  for 
it  crowns  the  entire  building,  just  as  the 
building  itself  dominates  the  whole  city  and 
country.  And  so  an  order  is  given  to  one 
of  the  masons  to  carve  on  the  architrave  of 
a  beautiful  gate  in  one  of  the  transepts  of 
that  fane  a  glorious,  triumphant  verse,  in 
which  Old  Testament  and  New  Testament 
blend  their  voices  to  the  glory  of  God  in 
Christ : 

THY  KINGDOM,  O  CHRIST,  IS  A  KINGDOM 

OF  ALL  AGES ; 
AND      THY      DOMINION      ENDURETH 

THROUGHOUT  ALL  GENERATIONS.! 

Yet  to-day  when  the  traveller  stands  in 
that  city  and  contemplates  that  great  fane, 
what  does  he  see  and  hear  ?  Within,  long, 
even  rows  of  worshippers  are  bowing  to 
the  earth.  No  image,  nor  any  form  or 
similitude  whatsoever  is  to  be  seen  :— 
they  are  bowing  before  an  Unseen.  ...  A 
low,  subdued  roar,  like  a  wave  breaking 
on  a  beach,  fills  the  whole  building, — they 
are  proclaiming  that  God  is  One. 

But — they  are  joining  another  name  to 

1  Of.  Psalm  cxlv.  13;(Septuagint). 


Fhe  Church 
Mosque, 
rhe  Crescent 
iisplaces  the 
I^ross. 


4          The  Reproach  of  Islam 

His  in  their  confession,  a  name  that  is  not 
the  Name  of  Jesus  !  And  that  book  which 
the  Reader  is  now  reciting  is  not  the  Gospel, 
nay,  it  is  proclaiming  to  the  worshippers 
that  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary,  is  neither  Lord 
nor  Son  of  God,  and  that  He  never  died 
upon  the  Cross.  .  .  .  And  when  the 
traveller  passes  out  of  the  building  and 
raises  his  eyes  aloft,  he  sees  no  Cross  crown 
ing  all,  but  a  Crescent  moon, — a  Crescent 
that  reminds  him  also  of  a  Scimitar. 

This  Church  epitomises  the  character 
of  the  phenomenon  that  meets  us  in  a  most 
startling  way  almost  all  over  the  Eastern 
hemisphere.  And  the  phenomenon  is 
unique  :  nowhere  has  it  the  least  parallel. 
For  though  there  be  many  Sacred  Books 
other  than  the  Gospel,  yet  when  you  inter 
rogate  them  concerning  Jesus  Christ  they 
return  you  no  answer  either  good  or  bad  ;  for 
they  were  written  or  collected  long  cen 
turies  before  He  came.  And  though  there 
be  many  shrines  and  temples,  in  which 
many  gods  and  lords  many  are  confessed, 
yet  none  of  them  were  ever  Churches 
dedicated  to  the  Name  of  Christ.  The 
Brahman  in  Benares  reading  the  Rig-veda, 


The  Extent  of  Islam  5 

the  Parsi  with  his  Zend-avesta,  the  Budd 
hist,  the  Confucian  pondering  their  Masters' 
wisdom, — know  nothing  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  their  temples  are  their  own.  But  in 
Constantinople,  in  Damascus,  in  Egypt- 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa — the  Moslem  is  bow 
ing  down  where  once  the  Christian  knelt. 
And  this  symbolises  the  fact  that  of 
religious  founders  the  Founder  of  Islam 
alone  is  later  in  time  than  the  Christ  of 
God,  and  coming  after  Him  is  by  many  pre 
ferred  before  Him  ;  and  that  his  book  alone 
claims  to  supersede,  and  alone  denies,  the 
Book  in  which  the  world  is  claimed  for 
Christ. 

"  Europe  !  "  yes,  even  Europe  harbours  Europe. 
Islam.  It  is  strange  that  the  land  from 
which  the  visionary  Macedonian  cried  out 
to  St  Paul,  the  land  which  was  the  first- 
fruits  of  Europe  for  Christ,  is  now  mainly 
Mohammedan.  In  Constantinople  (Byzan 
tium),  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  Roman 
Empire,  the  foundation  of  the  first  Chris 
tian  Roman  Emperor,  the  city  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Eastern  Patriarchates,  now 
rules  the  successor  of  the  Caliphs  of  Islam. 
His  empire  retains  only  the  shadow  of  its 
former  glory,  and  its  dissolution  is  often 


6          The  Reproach  of  Islam 

predicted,  yet  that  dissolution  is  not  in 
sight.  Greece,  Servia,  Bulgaria,  Roumania, 
Bosnia,  Herzegovina  have  been  wrenched 
from  it ;  Egypt,  Cyprus,  Crete  own  it  only 
a  nominal  allegiance ;  Arabia  is  struggling  to 
be  free  from  the  "  Shadow  of  the  Prophet/' 
But  for  all  that  the  Caliph  reigns  in  Stam- 
boul,  and  the  glorious  Byzantine  Cathedral 
of  San  Sofia,  like  the  great  Church  of  St 
John  Baptist  at  Damascus,  is  surmounted 
by  the  Crescent.  In  Turkey  alone  there 
are  two  million  Moslems,  and  in  the  Balkan 
States,  now  separated  from  Turkey,  nearly 
one  and  a  half  millions.  It  is  not  generally 
known  that  there  are  many  Moslems,  mostly 
Asiatics,  in  European  Russia,  especially  in 
the  South  and  East.  Once  Turkey  held 
Belgrade  and  threatened  Vienna.  Once 
Islam  was  supreme  in  Malta,  Sicily,  the 
Balearic  Islands,  and  Spain,  and  the  flood 
threatened  to  flow  through  Italy  and  France 
also.  But  by  God's  mercy  it  was  rolled 
back,  and  Europe  saved — if  she  will — for 
Christ.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains  that 
in  South-Eastern  Europe,  excluding  Russia, 
there  are  3,500,000  Mohammedans. 
Turkey  in  Asia.  In  Turkey  in  Asia,  though  there  are  some 
fragments  of  ancient  Christian  Churches, 


II 

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8          The  Reproach  of  Islam 

they  are  but  islands  in  the  sea  of  Islam. 
The  weary  continuity  of  oppression  and 
persecution,  both  civil  and  religious,  has 
broken  their  spirit,  impaired  grievously 
enough,  as  it  already  was,  by  superstition, 
and  internal  dissension,  and  decay.  The 
great  cities  and  sites  which  apostolic  names 
and  deeds  rendered  glorious  are  either 
lonely  ruins  or  towns  of  no  repute,  at 
least  no  Christian  repute.  The  candlesticks 
of  the  Churches  of  Ephesus,  Sardis,  Smyrna, 
Thyatira,  Philadelphia,  Pergamos,  and 
Laodicea  have  been  taken  away.1 

As  the  steamer  runs  past  the  huge 
mountains  of  Crete,  or  the  softer  coastline 
of  Cyprus,  both  places  for  ever  associated 
with  the  name  of  St  Paul,  it  is  sad  to  reflect 
that  those  islands  are  to-day  partly  Moslem, 
and  that  though  the  majority  of  the  in 
habitants  are  still  nominally  Christians,  the 
spirit  of  St  Paul  is  no  longer  in  their 
hearts  and  lives. 

What  of  Antioch  in  Syria,  and  its  great 
Patriarchate  ?  It  too  is  Moslem :  the 
Antioch  where  the  disciples  were  first 
called  Christians  seems  to-day  to  bristle 
with  minarets,  sticking  up  like  so  many 

1  Revelation  i.  11. 


HINDU    TEMPLE    TURNED    INTO    A    MOSQUE 


MOSQUE    Or    SAN    SOFIA,    CONSTANTINOPLE 
With  acknowledgments  to  Messrs  Oliphant,  Anderson  <£,-  Ferrier 


The  Extent  of  Islam  9 

lances  grimly  into  the  sky.  Northwards,  all 
along  the  routes  made  sacred  by  St  Paul's 
first  and  third  missionary  journeys,  you 
shall  find  little  save  Islam.  East  of  that, 
in  Armenia  and  the  Caucasus,  Christian 
Churches — Greek,  Armenian,  Georgian — 
struggle  on  against  the  overpowering 
weight  of  an  Islamic  social  system. 

And  south  of  Antioch  it  is  the  same.  Palestine. 
The  highlands  of  Lebanon,  like  those  of 
Macedonia  and  Armenia,  are  like  an  island 
peak  to  which  have  clung  many  Christians 
since  the  armies  of  Arabia  flooded  the 
Syrian  lowlands.  It  is  the  same  as  we 
pass  southwards.  Upper  Galilee,  Lower 
Galilee,  Samaria,  Judea,  Damascus,  Gilead, 
Moab  —  Islam  rules  and  predominates 
in  them  all,  and  their  Christians  are 
"  as  a  booth  in  a  vineyard,  as  a  lodge 
in  a  garden  of  cucumbers." 1  .  .  . 
Crusaders  failed  to  wrest  Jerusalem  from 
the  hand  of  the  Saracens,  and  to  plant  a 
Christian  state  in  the  heart  of  the  Moslem 
world.  That  land  where  the  Saviour  trod 
lies  paralysed,  under  the  misrule  of  the 
Moslem  Turk.  The  worshipper  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  may  hear  the 

1  Isaiah  i.  8  (II. V.). 


io        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Muezzin  proclaim  from  the  minarets  hard 
by  that  Mohammed  is  the  Prophet  of  God. 
And  when  he  passes  again  to  Bethlehem,  he 
finds  once  more  mosque,  minaret,  muezzin, 
and  hears  again  the  loud  call  that  is  intended 
to  challenge  the  Saviour's  claim  to  be  the 
Incarnate  Son. 

What  of  the  Other-Side-Jordan,  the 
lesser  nations,  that  galled  the  flanks  of  the 
Chosen  People  ?  What  of  the  great  desert 
beyond  with  its  scattered  Bedouin  tribes  ? 
What  of  the  great  world- centre,  Euphrates, 
where  Babylon  rose  and  fell,  Mesopotamia, 
and  the  Tigris  on  whose  banks  rose  Nineveh, 
the  hammer  of  the  ancient  world  ?  It  is 
all  the  "  House  of  Islam,"  as  the  Arabs 
call  Mohammedan  countries.  It  is  all 
directly  under  Turkish  rule.  Once  Irak 
(the  lower  Euphrates  and  Tigris  valleys) 
was  the  very  glory  of  the  Saracenic  empire, 
and  the  great  cities  of  Islam  —  Basra, 
Knfa,  Baghdad — came  nigh  rivalling  the 
forgotten  glories  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon. 
But  now,  in  the  decrepitude  that  has  over 
taken  these  parts,  those  cities  have  in  their 
turn  become  a  name  for  glory  that  has  long 
faded.  In  these  regions,  too,  there  are 
broken  fragments  of  ancient  Eastern 


THE    NI 


R    EAST 


The  Extent  of  Islam  u 

Churches — Armenian,  Syriac,  Chaldean, 
Greek.  But  their  eloquence  is  dead  : — they 
are  eloquent  only  of  the  coming  in  of  Islam 
as  a  flood.  Moreover,  in  all  these  countries, 
Babylonia,  Assyria,  Palestine,  Syria,  the  old 
tongues  of  Chaldean,  Syriac,  or  Greek,  the 
tongues  of  our  Lord  and  of  the  Church  of 
the  early  centuries  are  largely  disused,  and 
the  language  of  Mohammed  and  of  the 
Koran  is  predominant,  whether  among  the 
twelve  millions  of  Mohammedans,  or  certain 
of  the  communities  of  Christians  scattered 
like  islands  in  the  sea  of  surrounding  Islam. 

As  we  pass  in  thought  down  the  Red  Sea,  Egypt. 
Arabia  is  on  our  left,  Egypt  on  our  right. 
The  first  is  the  nursery  of  Islam,  the  latter, 
once  one  of  the  glories  of  Christendom,  is  a 
Mohammedan  realm  under  a  Mohammedan 
ruler.  In  Egypt  less  than  a  million  Coptic 
Christians  still  remain  to  remind  us  of  the 
great  Church  of  Clement,  of  Origen,  and 
of  Athanasius.  But  fourteen  times  that 
number,  from  Assuan  in  the  South  to 
Alexandria  in  the  north,  passionately  dis 
claim  the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  and  in 
town  and  village  fill  the  mosques  at  Friday 
noon-day  prayers,  and  call  down  impreca 
tions  on  the  worshippers  of  Christ  and  on 


12        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

those  who  bear  His  Name  and  glory  in  His 
Cross.  Here  also  the  old  language  of  the 
Church,  itself  a  heritage  from  the  days  of 
the  Pharaohs,  has  perished  ;  in  town  and 
village,  bazaar  and  home,  in  Church  as  in 
Mosque,  the  language  heard  is  that  of  the 
extraordinary  race  which  boiled  over  from 
Arabia  in  the  seventh  century,  and  streamed 
seething  into  all  the  world  around. 

Arabia.  And  Arabia,  the  Cradle  of   Islam — that 

peninsula,  the  great  extent  of  which  we 
hardly  realise  (little  smaller  in  actual  area 
than  India  itself),  Mohammed  and  his 
successors  decreed  should  be  wholly  and 
totally  given  over  to  the  Religion  of 
the  Koran.  All  other  religions  were  utterly 
exterminated,  and  to  this  day  the  Christian 
travels  there  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  while 
to  penetrate  into  the  Holy  Cities  of  Mecca 
or  Medina  is  to  forfeit  it.  Yet  Arabia  is 
not  happy — it  is  rent  by  faction,  divided 
against  the  suzerain  power  of  Turkey,  and 
weakened  by  the  fever  of  fanaticism. 
Nevertheless,  its  four  and  a  half  millions 
of  people,  whether  Bedouin  or  in  settled 
communities,  give  whatever  allegiance  they 
are  still  capable  of  to  the  Prophet  of  Islam. 
Even  the  little  Arab  boy,  in  the  utter  hatred 


The  Extent  of  Islam          13 

of  the  faith  of  Christ,  is  taught  to  defile 
the  Cross  which  he  has  drawn  in  the  desert 
sand. 

And  if,  leaving  Turkish  territory,  we  Persia, 
ascend  in  mind  into  the  highlands  that 
bound  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  valleys 
and  the  Persian  gulf,  the  ancient  land  of  the 
people  that  overthrew  Babylon  and  were 
overthrown  in  turn  by  Greece,  it  is  still  the 
same.  Persia — for  as  it  was  called  then,  so  is 
its  name  now — is  Moslem.  The  old  religion 
of  the  Zend-avesta  disappeared  before  the 
irresistible  vigour  of  a  younger  faith,  only 
finding  a  despairing  refuge  in  Western  India, 
whither  the  Parsi  fled  from  the  religion  of 
Mohammed  that  he  might  cling  in  peace 
to  the  religion  of  his  forefathers.  And  in 
Persia  Islam  reigns  supreme,  even  though 
its  Islam  is  deemed  a  noxious  heresy  (Shia) 
by  almost  all  the  rest  of  the  Moslem  world, 
and  though  the  traditional  free -thinking 
of  the  Persians  has  tinged  their  religious 
faith  with  a  pantheism  that  makes  it  less 
fierce  and  intractable  than  that  of  the 
orthodox  and  traditional  (Sunni)  Moham 
medan.  None  the  less,  throughout  Persia 
all  agree  in  denying  utterly  the  claims  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  whom,  indeed,  Persia  was 


Afghanistan, 
Baluchistan. 


14        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

never  won.  The  religion  of  the  Crescent  as 
yet  holds  the  field  among  nine  millions  of 
Persians.1 

Between  Persia  and  India  there  are  two 
great  lands  inhabited  by  wild,  fierce  peoples, 
Afghanistan  and  Baluchistan.  These  two, 
with  their  five  millions  of  inhabitants,  are 
practically  solid  Moslem  countries.  In 
Baluchistan  there  were  some  heathen  tribes, 
which  might  have  come  under  British  pro 
tection,  and  have  been  won  for  Christ.  But 
diplomacy  ordered  otherwise,  and  under 
Moslem  rule  those  tribes  will  be  added 
to  the  one  hundred  and  seventy  millions 
of  Asiatic  Mohammedans.  In  Afghanistan 
the  hatred  of  all  who  do  not  believe  in 
Mohammed,  and  of  Christians  especially, 
is  so  fierce  that  it  is  practically  impossible 
for  anyone  to  preserve  his  life  there  whilst 
confessing  Christ  as  Lord. 

In  the  great  lands  which  we  have  left, 
with  their  forty-four  millions  of  souls,  we 
have  found  independent  peoples  under 
Mohammedan  rulers.  A  marvel  is  now  to 
greet  us  as  we  cross  the  great  passes  of  the 
towering  highlands  between  Afghanistan 
and  India.  We  descend  into  the  Punjab, 

1  See  Chapter  IV. 


The  Extent  of  Islam  15 

as  countless  hosts  of  invaders — Aryan, 
Semitic,  and  Tartar — have  descended,  and 
we  find  ourselves  in  a  mighty  Empire  over 
which  waves  the  Union  Jack,  and  which 
owns  the  King  of  Britain  as  its  Emperor. 
Yet  this  Empire  of  India  is  the  greatest 
Mohammedan  country  in  the  world.  Of 
its  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  million 
people,  more  than  one-fifth  are  devoted 
believers  in  the  claims  of  Mohammed,  firm 
deniers  of  the  claims  of  the  Lord  Christ. 
These  sixty-two  million  Mohammedans  are 
found  almost  all  over  India,  though  their 
distribution  is  very  unequal.  In  Bengal 
alone  there  are  twenty-five  million  ;  in  the 
Punjab,  fifty  per  cent,  are  Mohammedan. 
This  enormous  mass  of  sixty-two  million 
Mohammedans  utterly  surpasses  the  total 
number  of  the  Moslems  found  in  the  lands 
of  Islam's  birth,  and  its  early  conquests, 
and  its  later  conquests  under  the  Turks,  all 
put  together.  The  Mohammedan  subjects 
of  Great  Britain  are  more  in  number  than 
those  of  any  other  power. 

From  whence  came  the  conquering  hosts  Central  Asia. 
of  the  Crescent  that  poured  into  India  over 
Khyber  and  the  other  passes  of  the  North- 
West  ?     That   is    a   story   which   shall   be 


1 6        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

told  in  a  later  chapter  :  it  may  be  said 
here  that  they  were  mainly  members  of 
the  great  Turanian  family  of  nations 
which  so  powerfully  reinforced  Islam  in 
Asia,  after  the  energy  of  the  Arabs 
burnt  itself  out,  just  as  the  negro  races 
have  so  powerfully  reinforced  it  in  the 
continent  of  Africa.  They  caught  the 
sceptre  from  the  now  nerveless  hands  of  the 
Arabs  ;  they  streamed  west  and  founded 
the  Ottoman  Empire  ;  they  streamed  east 
and  gave  Islam  in  India  the  powerful  start 
which  it  has  used  so  well.  Their  home 
was  in  the  steppes  of  Central  Asia,  to  us  a 
great,  dim,  bleak,  unknown  land.  Into 
that  dim  region  we  must  now  ascend  in  our 
thought- journey,  for  there,  too,  Islam  has 
sway.  Christianity  has  been  there,  little 
though  the  fact  is  known.  Where  is  it  now  ? 
It  could  not  hold  its  own  before  the  irre 
sistible  forces — religious,  racial,  social — con 
trolled  by  the  Crescent.  To-day  Central 
Asia,  except  where  it  is  Buddhist,  as  in 
Tibet,  is  Moslem. 

Turkestan.  We  cross  the  Hindu  Kush  and  Pamirs,  or, 

if  travelling  through  Persia,  the  highlands 
of  North-Eastern  Persia :  we  come  down  to 
a  famous  country  between  the  Oxus  and 


PERSIAN    BAZAAR 


RIVER    BANK,,    BAGHDAD 


The  Extent  of  Islam          17 

Jaxartes,  the  old  and  still  best-known 
names  for  the  rivers  that  flow  from  the 
Pamirs  northwards  into  the  Aral  Sea. 
Here  was  Alexander  the  Great's  furthest 
limit ;  here  are  famous  cities — Bokhara, 
Samarkand.  ...  It  is  Turkestan,  the  land 
of  the  Turks.  Almost  all  its  seven  million 
inhabitants  are  Mohammedan.  Come  east 
ward,  into  a  territory  that  looks  on  the  map 
as  if  it  were  bitten  out  of  Tibet.  It  is 
Chinese  Turkestan,  also  the  home  of  the 
Turk,  but  in  loose  political  relations  to  China, 
Western  Turkestan  being  part  of  the  Russian 
Empire.  Here,  too,  are  great  cities, — Kash- 
gar,  Yarkand.  .  .  .  Here,  too,  in  the  very 
heart  of  Asia,  Islam  entirely  predominates. 
But  we  go  further  north  still,  over  the 
dreary  steppes  between  Lake  Balkash  and 
the  Aral  Sea, — or  cross  mighty  mountain 
chains  and  descend*  great  valleys  —  the 
Irtish,  the  Obi,  —  we  find  ourselves  in 
Russian  Asia,  in  Southern  Siberia :  we  Siberia. 
arrive  at  great  cities — Omsk,  Tomsk,  even 
to  Tobolsk.  The  Crescent  has  been  with  us  all 
the  way !  To  the  very  boundary  of  Northern 
Siberia,  almost  to  the  latitude  of  St  Peters 
burg,  where  the  winter  day  is  so  short  that 
the  Moslem  can  hardly  find  time  to  pray  all 


1 8        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

his  stated  prayers,  this  extraordinary  faith 
has  penetrated.  Fourteen  million  Russian 
Moslems,  most  of  them  Asiatics,  more  than 
one-tenth  of  the  whole  of  that  "  Orthodox  " 
Christian  empire,  cover  those  enormous 
tracts.  For  the  most  part,  all  over  those 
millions  of  square  miles,  inhabited  by  a 
medley  of  races,  Turks  and  Mongols,  speak 
ing  a  jangle  of  languages  and  dialects,  all 
that  is  known  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Name 
of  Him,  and  the  travesty  of  Him  contained 
in  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  -of  Arabia. 

It  might  be  thought  that  we  have  reached 
the  limit  of  Islam  in  Asia  :  but  we  have 
only  reached  its  Northern  and  Western 
limits.  What  of  the  East?  Through 
Central  Asia,  through  the  two  Turkestans, 
lie  the  caravan  routes  of  immemorial 
antiquity  from  China  to  European  Russia 
north  of  the  Caspian,  and  to  the  Persian 
Gulf  south  of  the  Caspian.  Those  dreary 
routes  have  been  trodden  hard  by  swarms 
and  hordes  of  Turks  and  Mongols  in  times 
past.  These  Mongol  Turks  alternately  raided 
China  or  sought  her  protection.  Against  them 
was  built  the  famous  Great  Wall  of  China, 
to  stem  their  furious  and  bloodthirsty  incur 
sions.  Nevertheless  Mongolian  dynasties 


The  Extent  of  Islam  19 

have  ruled  in  China ;  and  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  Islam  also  should  flow  east 
ward  over  the  great  trade-routes  and  play 
its  part  in  China  too.  And  so  it  has  been. 
We  talk  of  Confucian  China ;  we  think  of 
that  great  people  numbering  one  -  fifth 
of  the  world's  population  as  being  one 
in  race,  one  in  faith.  But  are  twenty 
millions^  of  souls  negligible  ?  For  that  is 
the  number  of  Mohammedans  in  China, 
most  of  them  in  Kansu  in  the  North- West, 
but  many  in  other  parts  of  the  north,  and 
many  in  Yun-nan  in  far  South- West,  from 
which  last  it  is  easy  to  pass  in  thought  to 
the  one  and  a  half  millions  of  Moslems,  also 
of  the  yellow  race,  subjects  of  another 
Christian  power,  the  French,  inhabiting 
the  French  territories  of  Indo -China.  And 
thus  we  have  come  round  full  circle  to 
British  Moslem  India,  between  which  and 
French  Indo  -  China  there  only  lies  the 
Buddhist  kingdom  of  Siam.  Yet  here,  too, 
there  are  one  million  Mohammedans. 

If  it  is  a  surprise  to  most  English  readers  East  indies 
to  find  out  that  twenty  million  of  Chinese, 
indistinguishable  from  their  fellow-country 
men    in    dress,    language,    and    manners, 
confess  Allah   and   Mohammed,  and   pray 


20        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

according  to  the  ritual  ordained  by  the 
Prophet  of  Arabia  in  the  name  of  God,  it  is 
perhaps  still  more  of  a  surprise  to  know, 
lastly,  that  Islam  is  the  dominant  religion 
in  the  East  Indies.  We  have  seen  that  this 
amazing  faith  has  claimed  all  the  great 
races  of  Asia — the  Aryan,  the  Semitic,  the 
Turanian  or  Tartar.  But  one  great  race 
remains — the  Malay ;  and  it,  too,  Islam  has 
claimed  for  its  own.  We  have,  moreover, 
seen  Great  Britain  and  France  in  their 
strange  role  of  Moslem  powers.  Yet  an 
other  Christian  European  power  has  sway 
over  more  Moslems  in  the  East  than  over 
Christians  in  the  West — Holland.  Thirty 
million  Dutch  Moslems  of  Malay  race  are 
found  in  the  immense  islands  of  Java, 
Sumatra,  Borneo,  and  Celebes.  Only  some 
seven  millions  of  heathen  are  left  in  those 
islands,  and  between  Christian  missionary, 
and  Moslem  preacher  and  trader,  an  unequal 
race  is  going  on  for  the  possession  of  those 
tribes. 

And  what  of  the  Moslems  whom  the  eye 
of  our  imagination  sees  prostrating  them 
selves  towards  Mecca  from  the  opposite 
quarter,  from  the  West,  the  South- West, 
the  South,  those  sixty  millions  of  African 


The  Extent  of  Islam  21 

Mohammedans  who  also  follow  the  prophet 
of  Arabia  ?  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  East 
Indies  to  the  farthest  west  of  Africa  ;  from 
the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  ;  from  the  frozen 
deserts  of  the  steppes  of  Asia  to  the  burning 
deserts  of  the  Sahara  of  Africa.  Yet  both 
here  and  there  has  Islam  easily  penetrated, 
and  easily  holds  a  sway  that  seems  well-nigh 
absolute. 

From  the  border  of  Egypt  the  whole  of  N.  Africa. 
North  Africa  to  the  Atlantic  is  Mohammedan 
practically  to  a  man.  Yet  we  are  treading 
on  the  dust  of  martyrs,  confessors,  pastors, 
doctors  of  great  Christian  Churches.  In 
Egypt  there  are  at  least  nearly  a  million 
Copts  to  remind  us  of  the  Patriarchate  of 
Alexandria ;  but  in  Tripoli  what  tells  us, 
as  we  traverse  the  fanatical  Barbary  States, 
with  their  one  and  a  quarter  million  of 
Moslems  under  Turkish  rule,  that  we  are 
passing  over  the  territory  of  the  Churches 
of  Cyrene  ?  In  Tripoli  the  Greek  tongue 
of  Synesius,  in  Tunis  and  Algeria  the  Latin 
of  Cyprian,  of  Tertullian,  of  Augustine, 
have  wholly  disappeared  :  the  language  of 
these  countries  is  the  tongue  of  the  prophet 
of  Mecca.  The  country  now  known  as 
Tunis  was  a  veritable  centre  of  the  Christian 


22        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

faith.  Its  soil  was  drenched  with  the  blood 
of  Christian  martyrs.  Its  confessors  pre 
ferred  torture  rather  than  betray  the 
Christian  Scriptures.  Its  territory  was 
divided  into  dioceses  numerous  to  an  un 
paralleled  degree.  The  great  name  of 
Augustine  of  Hippo,  the  man  who  did  so 
much  to  shape  the  Christian  thought  of  the 
West,  shed  a  lustre  over  the  whole  of  that 
North  African  Church.  Where  is  the  fruit 
of  all  that  learning,  all  that  self-sacrifice  ? 
Gone  !  leaving  not  a  wrack  behind.  The 
churches  are  in  ruins  or  mouldered  into 
dust.  The  Cross  has  disappeared  before  the 
Crescent,  and  men  acknowledge  a  Book, 
which  claims  to  supersede  the  Book  over 
which  Augustine  pored,  saved  from  sin 
and  for  God  by  its  living  words. 

On  through  Algeria,  the  ancient  Numidia, 
to  Morocco,  the  ancient  Mauretania,  to  the 
southern  Pillar  of  Hercules ;  past  it,  round 
the  long  curve  of  the  north-western  coast 
where  Atlas  ends,  and  the  Atlantic  surf, 
which  alone  stopped  the  furious  onset  of  the 
Saracen,  beats  upon  the  shore.  Algerian 
and  Moor,  Berber  and  Kabyle  make  practi 
cally  a  solid  Mohammedan  people.  Arabic 
is  the  tongue  of  the  great  majority  of  the 


The  Extent  of  Islam  23 

twenty-two  millions  of  Moslems  from  Port 
Said  to  the  Atlantic,  and  the  Arabian 
Prophet  alone  they  have  taken  for  their 
guide.  As  the  noonday  sun  passes  over 
North  Africa  we  might  say  that  it  sees  the 
entire  population  turn  eastward  and  pros 
trate  itself  towards  the  city  of  Mohammed. 

What  of  the  mighty  regions  summed  up  Central  Africa, 
for  us  in  the  vague,  dark  names  Sudan, 
Sahara, — the  Hinterlands  of  Tripoli,  Tunis, 
Algiers,  Morocco  ?  It  is  but  a  geographical 
expression  to  most  of  us  ;  yet  desert  as 
much  of  it  is,  it  seethes  with  life, — tribes  that 
inhabit  the  oases,  or  wander  over  the  great 
inland  trade-routes  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Nile,  and  far  more  in  the  Sudan  settled 
peoples  who  inhabit  the  lands  through  which 
flow  great  rivers,  as  the  Senegal,  Niger, 
and  Benue :  peoples  dwelling  in  great  and 
famous  cities,  as  Timbuktu,  Kano,  Sokoto ; 
capable  of  organising  great  empires,  like 
the  Fulah  empire  of  Sokoto  which  absorbed 
the  great  Hausa  people,  or  like  the 
central-Saharan  religious  empire  of  the 
Senussi  chief  to-day.  This  huge  territory 
also  is  a  "  House  of  Islam "  ;  hot  and 
fierce  as  its  own  desert  siroccos,  convinced 
of  the  absolute  truth  and  universality  and 


24        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

victoriousness  of  what  is  to  them  the  one 
true  religion.  In  the  centre  of  this  region, 
and  northwards  to  the  coast  lands,  the  sway 
of  Islam  is  absolute.  There  these  desert 
tribes,  fierce  and  violent  as  the  Arabs  of 
Mohammed's  Arabia,  are  learning  to-day 
a  yet  fiercer  enthusiasm  for  Islam.  In  that 
heady  desert  air  which  makes  men  violent 
they  know  not  for  what,  passionately 
eager  they  know  not  to  what  end,  they  are 
becoming  organised  and  their  minds  dis 
ciplined  to  one  sole  idea,  the  only  idea  and 
the  only  interest  which  their  narrow  lives 
admit,  the  religion  of  the  Crescent.  South 
of  that  Islam  has  been  and  is  ever  still 
creeping  on ;  now  by  great  conquests,  now 
by  the  gradual,  sure  assimilation  of  the 
ignorant  tribes  to  their  merchant-settlers. 
West  Africa.  In  every  one  of  the  West  Coast  lands, 
from  Sierra  Leone  to  the  Bight  of  Benin, 
a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the  popu 
lation  is  Mohammedan,  and  for  the  balance, 
the  heathen  remnant,  the  contest  is  going 
on,  and  at  present  on  utterly  unequal  terms, 
between  Islam  coming  in  with  its  dead 
weight  from  the  North,  and  Christianity 
coming  all  too  feebly  and  fitfully  from  the 
South.  In  these  great  central  and  western 


MOSQUE    OF    HUSSEIN    AT    KERBELA,,    NEAR    BAGHDAD 


MOSQUE    AT    ABEOKUTA,    W.    AFRICA 


The  Extent  of  Islam  25 

regions  thirty  millions  of  Moslems  tell   us 
of  our  great  failure. 

Coming  south  now, in  this  thought- journey  Congo  state. 
in  which  there  has  been  so  much  to  dismay 
and  sadden  the  believer  in  the  Christ  of  God, 
we  find  that,  starting  from  the  Gulf  of 
Guinea,  Islam  has  a  firm  hold  in  the  French 
Congo  State,  where  there  are  one  million 
Mohammedans  out  of  ten  million  inhabit 
ants.  Even  south  of  the  Congo  they  are 
found  ;  and  here  it  fills  one  with  dismay 
to  think  how  little  the  Congolese  have  had 
reason  to  prefer  the  system,  the  morals, 
or  the  principles  which  they  might  have 
inferred  to  be  Christian  from  the  practices 
of  their  "  rulers."  May  God  enable  them 
to  judge  rather  from  what  they  see  in  their 
heroic  missionaries  ! 

Further    east,    in    the    Nile    Basin,     we  Nile  Basin, 
find  Islam  threatening,  through  the  sheer  Uganda!"  ' 
imitativeness  of  the  Sudanese,  and  his  fatal 
contact    with    Moslem    officials,    whether 
Egyptian  or  Black.     Here,   as  in  Nigeria 
and   as   in   British   East   Africa,    the   pax 
Britannica  makes  a  ring-fence,  within  which 
Islam  finds  exceptionally  favourable  oppor 
tunities  of  spreading  Eastward  still !     And 
Somaliland  spreads  itself  out  before  us— 


26 


The  Reproach  of  Islam 


Uganda. 


East  Africa. 


solid  Islam  with  nearly  one  million  people, 
Moslem  to  a  man.  Alas,  and  again  alas ! 
once  more  the  Christian  Church  has  made 
its  ultimate  task  one  hundredfold  more 
difficult  through  being  too  late.  But  a  little 
time  ago  these  Somali  tribes  were  heathen. 
Now  they  are  fanatical  Mohammedans. 

In  Uganda,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Cross 
has  been  in  time — but  only  just  in  time. 
It  was  only  by  a  hairsbreadth  that  all 
Uganda  has  not  been  Islamised.  As  it  is, 
there  are  two  hundred  thousand  Moslems 
out  of  a  population  of  four  million. 

And  all  down  the  east  coast  and  in  the 
centre  of  Africa  it  is  the  same  tale — Islam 
coming  in  like  a  flood,  from  the  North  and 
from  the  East,  where  Zanzibar  is  a  veritable 
centre  for  the  influence  of  the  Crescent.  It 
would  seem  as  if  this  extraordinary  faith 
thrives  through  its  evil  deeds  just  as  easily 
as  through  its  good,  for  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  start  which  Islam  has  got 
in  the  interior  of  the  Dark  Continent  is  due 
to  the  operations  of  the  Arab  slavers,  for 
all  their  inhumanities  and  unspeakable 
atrocities.  Memories  in  Africa  are  short : 
the  slave  trade  is  largely  at  an  end  now, 
thanks  to  Christian  England  ;  and  the 


The  Extent  of  Islam  27 

slave  trader,  turned  respectable,  is,  in  his 
capacity  of  honest  trader,  making  Islam  the 
mode  in  Dark  and  Darkest  Africa.  In  all 
these  regions  down  to  the  Zambesi  there  are 
believed  already  to  be  upwards  of  a  million 
Mohammedans.  And  it  is  a  stern  fight 
between  Crescent  and  Cross  for  the  bulk 
of  the  heathen  tribes. 

Did  we  say,  "  Down  to  the  Zambesi  "  ?  South  Africa 

mi         T»/T  i  i     •        j_i  and  the  Islands. 

I  he  Muezzin  is  heard  in  the  numerous 
Moslem  colonies  in  Cape  Colony,  Natal,  and 
the  Boer  ex-Republics,  as  if  to  empha 
sise  the  fact  that  Islam  regards  the  African 
Continent  as  in  a  special  sense  its  own. 
And,  to  complete  the  tale,  nearly  two 
hundred  thousand  Moslems  are  found  in 
the  islands  on  the  east  of  Africa, — Mada 
gascar,  Seychelles,  Mauritius,  Mayotte,  and 
Comoro.  In  all  Africa  it  is  believed  that 
there  are  nearly  sixty  million  Mohammedans 
— nearly  one-third  of  the  total  population, 
and  beyond  question  their  rate  of  increase 
is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  faith. 

The  centre  to  which  all  Moslems  turn  is  a  Problem, 
black  stone  in  an  old  Meccan  temple.     On 
the  pilgrimage  at  Mecca,  the  African  negro 
meets  the  Malaysian  Moslem,  almond-eyed 


28        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Russians  of  Mongolian  or  Turkish  blood 
from  Omsk  and  Samarkand  meet  Indians 
from  the  cities  of  Punjab  and  Bengal, 
cultured  Syrians  from  Beyrout,  Egyptians 
from  Cairo,  Turks  from  Asia  Minor  and 
Stamboul.  All  this  crowd  of  races,  peoples, 
nationalities,  and  tongues  own  one  faith  : 
to  the  Christians'  One  Lord,  One  Faith,  One 
Baptism,  One  God  and  Father  of  all,  they 
proudly  and  contemptuously  confess  one 
Allah,  one  prophet,  one  sacred  book,  one 
sacred  city,  Mecca — that  city  towards  which 
we  may  imagine  one  hundred  and  seventy 
millions  of  Asiatic,  and  sixty  millions  of 
African,  Moslems  turning  daily  as  they 
prostrate  themselves  in  prayer,  facing  in 
wards  in  one  huge  circle,  from  north  and 
east,  from  west  and  south.  This  then  is 
the  phenomenon  with  which  we  have  to 
do  :  —  nearly  two  hundred  and  thirty 
million  souls,  in  the  continents  of  Asia 
and  Africa,  in  addition  to  the  Moslems  in 
Europe,  spread  out  in  the  form  of  an  enor 
mous  Cross,  the  arms  of  which  reach  from 
the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic,  and  its  upright 
from  Siberia  to  the  Zambesi,  and  its  centre 
and  focus,  physically  as  well  as  spiritually, 
Mecca  in  Arabia. 


The  Extent  of  Islam  29 

We  have  caught  a  glimpse  of  what  this 
means — vast,  almost  inaccessible  regions, 
whether  of  frozen  steppes  of  Tartary,  or  of 
torrid  deserts  of  the  Sahara  and  Sudan ; 
civilisations,  great,  unsympathetic,  and  semi- 
barbarous  peoples,  almost  unintelligible  to 
us;  closed  lands, such  as  Arabia,  Afghanistan, 
Tibet ;  enormous  distances  ;  multitudinous 
tongues  and  races,  Arabic,  Turkish,  Persian, 
Urdu,  Tartar,  Malaysian,  Chinese,  Bantu, 
Hausa ;  yet  tightly  united  by  a  belief 
in  one  God,  and  a  common  faith  which 
carries  with  it  a  religious  enthusiasm 
in  its  adherents  almost  without  parallel. 
A  people  bound  together  by  this  Faith 
and  by  a  social  system,  which  insinuates 
itself  by  the  privileges  it  offers,  the  penalties 
it  can  impose,  and  the  meagreness  of 
the  spiritual  demands  it  makes ; — such 
is  the  Islam  which  faces  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  at  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth 
century  of  its  era,  challenging  both  its  past, 
its  present,  and  its  future. 

We  are  standing  again  before  the  Church- 
Mosque  of  St  John  the  Baptist  at  Damascus. 
How  its  significance  has  grown  for  us  since 
we  stood  there  first ! 


30        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Then  let  it  be  significant  to  us  in  one  final 
respect  also.  For  there,  not  understood  by 
the  alien  Occupant,  and  passed  over  by 
his  obliterating  hand,  we  still  descry,  on 
the  architrave  of  that  once  beautiful  gate, 
the  prophetic  letters  of  the  words  : 

THY  KINGDOM,  O  CHRIST,  IS  A  KINGDOM 

OF  ALL  AGES ; 

AND  THY  DOMINION  ENDURETH 
THROUGHOUT  ALL  GENERATIONS 


QUESTIONS  FOR  CHAPTER  I 

These  questions  are  intended  to  enable  students 
to  make  sure  that  they  have  grasped  the  import 
ant  facts  in  the  chapter.  They  are  not  intended 
to  replace  the  Outline  Study  Programmes  issued 
for  the  use  of  Mission  Study  Circles. 

1.  Give  all  the  facts  you  know  about  the  Church- 
Mosque  of  St  John  Baptist  at  Damascus  ? 

2.  Fill  in  a  blank  map  of  the  world  showing  what 
countries  are          (l)  Moslem. 

(2)  Partly  Moslem. 

3.  Fill  in  a  blank  map  of  the  world  showing  what 
countries  are          (l)  Christian. 

(2)  Partly  Christian. 

4.  In  what  countries  has  Mohammedanism  super 
seded  Christianity  (1)  Wholly  ?  , 

(2)  In  part  ? 


The  Extent  of  Islam  31 

5.  In   what    countries  has  Christianity  displaced 
Mohammedanism  (l)  Wholly  ? 

(2)  In  part  ? 

6.  Compare   the   answers  to   questions  4   and   5, 
giving    numbers   of  Mohammedans    and  Christians 
respectively. 

7.  Give    the    names    of    the    ancient    Christian 
Churches  still  remaining  in  Mohammedan  lands  and 
the  geographical  distribution  of  their  adherents. 

8.  To  what   extent  has  Mohammedanism  pene 
trated   into    Africa.     Give   sketch   map,    with    key 
showing  the  distribution  and  approximate  numbers 
of  Moslems. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

ZVVEMER,    S.    M.       Islam — A    Challenge    to    Faith, 

chap.  xi.  p.  226  ff. 
The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,  chap.   xix. — 

Cairo  Conference  Papers. 
Modern  Atlas. 


CHAPTER  II 

WHENCE    CAME    IT  ? 

THE  phenomenon  of  Islam,  as  it  is  seen  in 
the  world  to-day,  is  then,  most  startling  ; 
it  is  one  that  inevitably  sets  us  enquiring 
into  its  underlying  causes.  And  naturally 
the  first  question  we  ask  is,  Whence  came  it  ? 
And  the  second,  How  came  it  ?  The  answer 
to  these  inquiries  form  the  subject  of  this 
and  the  following  chapter. 

A  journey  back-  *  In  the  last  chapter  we  took  a  journey  on 
wards  m  time.  .^  wmgs  of  thought,  in  space ;  in  the  present 
one  we  take  another  journey,  on  the  same 
wings  of  thought,  in  time.  Backwards  in 
time  we  fly,  leaving  the  centuries  behind 
us, retracing  the  slow  evolution  of  history:— 
how  fast  and  how  amazingly  the  scene 
changes  !  Back,  past  the  modern  European 
period,  with  its  formation  of  great  nations  ; 
past  the  fifteenth  century  with  its  two 
crucially  important  events,  the  fall  of 
Constantinople  and  the  discovery  of  the 
New  World  ;  past  the  dim  mediaeval  cen- 


Whence  Came  It?  33 

turies,     with     their     chivalry,     romance, 
monasticism,    their    popes    and    emperors, 
their  kings  and  counsellors  : — past  all  this, 
and  we  alight  at  a  certain  century  when  the 
Roman  Empire,  which  three  hundred  years  Byzantine 
before  had  been  divided  into  two  halves,  EmPlre- 
survives  now  only  in  the  Eastern  half,  with 
its  seat  at  Constantinople,  the  New  Rome 
of  the  East,  under  the  Byzantine  emperors, 
the  successors  of  Constantine  the  Great. 

For  Italy  and  the  whole  West  have 
been  overwhelmed  by  successive  floods  of 
Teutonic  tribes  from  the  North,  whose 
savagery  is  being  slowly  and  hardly  tamed 
by  the  Church  from  her  metropolitan  centre, 
Rome.  Rome  is  no  longer  a  world- capital, 
the  city  of  emperors,  but  for  that  very 
reason  she  is  the  more  conspicuous  as  the 
seat  of  the  great  Bishopric  of  Rome  and  the 
centre  of  the  religious  forces  in  the  West. 
To  the  eye  of  a  Graeco -Roman  in  Constanti 
nople,  the  West  seems  little  better  than  a 
chaos.  All  the  hope  of  the  world  as  seen 
from  Constantinople  seems  to  lie  in  the 
eastern  half  of  Christendom.  The  Byzantine 
empire  holds  sway  over  eastern  Europe, 
Asia  Minor,  Egypt,  Syria,  and  eastward 
as  far  as  the  great  Persian  Empire  of  the 


34        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Chosroes.  The  latter,  having  extended 
northwards,  has  swallowed  up  the  great 
Parthian  Empire,  the  old  enemy  of 
Rome,  while  eastward  her  borders  stretch 
towards  India.  The  Persians  are  mainly 
Zoroastrians,  believers  in  a  god  of  good 
and  a  god  of  evil,  Ormuzd  and  Ahri- 
man,  and  in  the  sacred  writings  of  the 
Zend-avesta.  Yet  there  are  scattered 
through  these  regions,  and  through 
Turkestan  towards  the  dim  spaces  of  Central 
Asia,  many  Christians,  with  churches  and 
bishoprics,  the  work  mainly  of  Nestorian 
missionaries,  who,  with  all  their  heresy 
regarding  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation, 
are  earnest  "  foreign  missionaries  "  in  these 
early  days.  For  alas  !  the  seamless  robe  of 
the  Church  has  been  rent ;  throughout  the 
Christian  world,  Christians  are  bitterly 
divided  among  themselves.  In  Rome  and 
in  Constantinople  there  are  already  ominous 
signs  of  the  division  which  actually  took 
place  in  1054  into  the  "  Catholic "  and 
"  Orthodox,"  or  Roman  Catholic  and 
Greek  Churches  of  the  present  day  ;  while 
in  the  East,  the  Nestorian  Christians,  and 
in  Egypt  the  Copts  hate  and  are  hated 
by  the  Established  or  Melchite  Church  of 


Whence  Came  It? 


35 


Byzantium.  In  this  century  our  Lord's 
prayer  is  surely  forgotten :  '  That  they 
all  may  be  one  .  .  .  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me." 

Such  is  the  "  world  "  which  we  survey 
at  the  end  of  our  flight  in  time  ;    for  we 


The  Christian  Church  in  the  Byzantine  Empire  at 
the  advent  of  Islam. 

have  alighted  at  the  seventh  Christian 
century,  and  this  is  what  we,  trained  to 
make  our  outlook  from  ^the  northern  side 
of  the  Mediterranean,  have  seen. 


36        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

We  had  almost  forgotten  !  A  country 
remains  unnoticed  in  our  survey — really 
so  unimportant  that  it  is  hardly  worth 
while  mentioning  it — Arabia,  a  barren 
peninsula,  shut  off  from  civilisation  (we  are 
Byzantines  speaking)  by  three  seas  on  three 
sides,  and  the  desert  on  the  fourth  ;  peopled 
by  barbarous  tribes,  mostly  nomads,  some 
others  settled  in  towns,  but  all  of  them 
utterly  irresponsive  to  civilising  influences 
from  Europe.  Rome  tried  her  hand  at 
administering  Arabia,  and  failed ;  By 
zantium  holds  her  now  at  arm's  length, 
content  if  those  hot-headed  tribes  refrain 
from  troubling  the  marches  of  Syria  and 
Egpyt.  For  the  rest,  the  Arabian  is  a 
familar  figure  in  Syria  with  his  caravans, 
and  his  merchandise.  As  it  was  in  the  days 
of  Joseph,  so  now,  the  Ishmaelite  is  the 
nomad  merchant  of  the  East.  As  for  what 
that  incomprehensible  person  does,  or  where 
and  how  he  lives,  when  he  returns  to  that 
dim  Arabian  peninsula,  it  is  hardly  worth 
the  while  of  a  Byzantine  Christian  or  a  fire- 
worshipping  Persian  to  enquire.  True  it  is 
that  in  extent  this  peninsula  is  an  immense 
tract — its  area  is  almost  as  great  as  that 
of  India — but  with  such  inhabitants  as  it 


Whence  Came  It?  37 

has,  we,  the  world  of  600  A.D.,  may  really 
ignore  it  altogether. 

And  yet  before  the  century  is  out,  there 
shall  have  arisen  in  that  peninsula,  and 
issued  from  it,  a  power  which  rolling  on 
like  a  flood  shall  annihilate  that  Persian 
Empire,  and  shall  be  laying  siege  to  Con 
stantinople  herself  ;  and  more  than  half  of 
that  Byzantine  Roman  Empire  shall  have 
been  lost  to  her  for  ever.  Thus  unstable 
and  incalculable  are  human  affairs  in  this 
seventh  century. 

And  therefore  we  may  and  must  seek  to  Mohammed, 
pass  into  that  Arabian  peninsula  and  see,  c* 
with  the  eyes  of  its  inhabitants,  what  is 
really  going  on  there,  and  how  the  world 
beyond  looks  to  the  eyes  of  a  certain  Arabian 
named  Mohammed,  son  of  Abdallah,  some 
time    caravan-manager,    now    independent 
citizen  of  the  town  of  Mecca,  the  chief  city 
of  the  tribe  of  the  Kuraish,  in  the  Hejfiz  or 
western  coast  district  of  Araby. 

He  was  a  posthumous  child,  born  about 
A.D.  570,  and  his  mother  did  not  long 
survive  her  husband.  The  orphan  was 
brought  up  under  the  care  and  the  patron 
age  of  his  uncle  Abu-Talib.  When  a  boy 


38        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

he  used  to  look  after  his  uncle's  sheep  and 
camels.  When  a  youth  he  had  some  experi 
ence  of  the  desultory  fighting  in  which  the 
Arabs  used  to  indulge  in  the  course  of  settling 
the  innumerable  blood-feuds,  which  were 
one  of  the  chief  features  of  Arab  society. 
And  when  a  young  man,  he  took  his  part 
in  organising  and  managing  the  yearly 
caravans  which  went  forth  from  Araby  to 
trade.  In  this  way  he  visited  different 
parts  of  the  Arabian  peninsula,  Syria,  and 
possibly  Irak  (the  Euphrates  region),  and 
Egypt.  So  well  did  he  manage  the  caravan 
of  a  certain  wealthy  lady  named  Khadijah, 
that  on  his  return,  about  the  age  of  twenty- 
five,  she  bestowed  on  him  her  hand  in 
marriage.  By  her  he  had  children,  and 
through  her  ample  means  he  enjoyed 
financial  independence.  Thus  he  continued 
till  his  fortieth  year. 

That  does  not  seem  to  be  a  very  eventful 
existence  ;  yet  it  was  a  life  which,  given 
a  reflective  and  imaginative  mind,  might 
afford  suggestion  and  food  enough  for 
thought,  both  in  respect  of  what  he  saw  in 
the  Arabian  Peninsula  itself,  and  in  the 
provinces  of  the  Roman  (Byzantine)  and 
Persian  Empires  through  which  he  jour- 


Whence  Came  It  ?  39 

neyed.     Let  us  try  to  see  what  he  saw, 
using  the  eyes  of  the  man  himself. 

Arabia  itself  was  a  tangle  of  tribes  and  Condition  of 
clans  with  hardly  any  cohesion.  There Arabia- 
was  a  common  language,  of  course  with 
various  dialects  ;  there  were  some  sacred 
spots  like  Mecca  with  its  bethel  (Bait 
Allah)  or  Kaaba  (cube),  the  names  for  the 
immemorial  sanctuary  into  which  the 
sacred  Black  Stone  was  built.  There  was 
a  "Market"  or  "Fair"  at  Ukaz,  and 
certain  sacred  months  for  attending  fair 
or  making  pilgrimage,  during  which  none 
might  attack  his  fellow.  These  were  the 
chief  factors  of  unity,  and  slight  enough 
they  were,  but  enough  to  tell  very  power 
fully  when  the  right  moment  came. 
Students  of  Hellenic  history  will  be  able 
to  trace  a  curious  parallel  for  themselves. 

In  regard  to  social  organisation,  the  (i)  Social, 
nation  was  divided  into  tribes,  the  tribes 
into  clans,  the  clans  into  families.  The 
conception  of  the  blood-feud  tyrannised 
over  the  whole  ;  if  the  member  of  one  clan, 
or  a  man  under  its  patronage,  were  slain, 
the  clan  of  the  slayer  must  yield  a  victim, 
or  pay  blood-money.  Hence  tedious  wars, 
languidly  pursued,  terminating  as  in  the  case 


40        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

of  the  "  campaigns  "witnessed  by  Moham 
med,  in  the  balancing  of  credit  and  debit  of 
deaths,  and  the  paying  up  of  the  difference  in 
blood-money.  Did  the  young  Mohammed 
contrast  this  futility  with  the  strenuousness 
and  the  definiteness  of  the  social  organisa 
tions  he  saw  abroad,  comparing  the  im 
potence  of  the  Arab  nation  with  the 
puissance  of  the  Byzantine  or  the  Persian 
Empire,  as  witnessed  by  him  on  his  travels  ? 
Why  should  these  things  continue,  for  the 
Arabs,  having  a  great  language,  literature, 
history,  tradition,  and  immense  pride  of 
their  own,  had  all  the  ingredients  of  a  great 
patriotism  ? 

So  also  the  political  contrast.  Instead  of 
a  mighty  king  with  his  civil  and  military 
hosts  organised  under  him,  Mohammed  saw 
a  headless  nation.  Even  the  tribe-unit 
was  headless,  looking,  for  justice  or  for 
leadership,  to  a  vaguely -defined  number  of 
local  notables. 

Educational.  In  education  it  was  no  better.  The 
Arabs  had  no  learning.  Very  few  of  them 
troubled  to  learn  even  reading  or  writing 
any  more  than  Mohammed  had  done.  The 
Arabic  language  was  their  only  educa 
tion.  That  marvellous  tongue  lent  itself 


Whence  Came  It?  41 

to  contests  in  poetry,  in  rhymed  prose, 
in  extemporaneous  rhetoric.  Assuredly 
Mohammed  was  no  stranger  to  these  con 
tests  ;  his  tribe,  the  Kuraish,  spoke  the 
standard  Arabic  of  Arabia,  the  Attic,  so 
to  speak,  of  the  Arabian  nation ;  and  he 
must  have  had  a  good  command  of  pure 
Arabic.  It  would,  therefore,  seem  that 
the  uneducatedness  of  Mohammed,  of  which 
such  a  great  point  is  made  by  Moslem 
apologists,  has  been  very  much  over 
rated.  Yet  he  apparently  despised  the 
forms  of  Arabic  literature  then  in  vogue. 
Was  that  because  he  had  caught  a  glimpse 
of  some  real  learning  and  education  in  his 
travels  in  Syria  ? 

The  Semite  is  a  religious  race  ;  it  was  (4)  Religious. 
not  possible  for  a  Semite,  even  an  Arab  of 
the  Kuraish,  one  of  the  least  religious  of 
all  Semitic  tribes,  to  reflect  upon  social 
and  political  phenomena  without  coming 
immediately  upon  religious  considerations  ; 
and  between  the  two  he  would  infallibly 
see  effect  and  cause.  The  little  limits  of 
Mohammed's  world  gave  him  plenty  of  food 
for  thought  on  this  matter  also.  By  the 
side  of  Judaism  and  Christianity — or  even 
heathen  Zoroastrianism — the  religion  of  the 


42        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Arabs  must  have  seemed  to  him  a  miser 
able  affair.  Local  deities  with  puny  powers 
limited  to  their  own  borders  ;  a  shadowy 
Supreme  Deity,  Allah,  who  at  times 
seemed  to  pale  before  the  nearer  minor 
deities,  and  at  other  times  to  be  the  one 
supreme  reality  of  all ;  ...  but  nothing 
certain,  no  open  vision,  no  revelation,  no 
prophet.  Yet  he  had  seen  enough  of  Jews 
and  Christians  to  know  how  much  happier 
their  plight  was  ;  for  Arabia  was  full  of 
Jewish  tribes  or  colonies  and  there  were 
also  in  Arabia  Christian  monasteries  and 
even  Christian  states.  And  both  Jew  and 
Christian  had  the  tremendous  prestige  of 
learning — of  being  "  People  of  the  Book." 
Did  not  the  Empire  of  Roum  (Byzantine 
Empire)  own  allegiance  to  the  Injil  (Gospel) 
and  the  Jews  to  the  Tourah  (Law)  ?  Even 
Abyssinia  over  the  water,  at  least  a  homo 
geneous  kingdom,  was  subject  to  the  Gospel. 
Why  had  every  nation  its  Book,  its  special 
revelation  from  the  divine,  and  the  Arabian 
nation  none  at  all  ?  Why  had  every 
nation,  except  his  own,  its  own  Prophet 
and  Leader,  the  Jews,  Musa  (Moses),  the 
Nazarenes,  Isa  (Jesus)  ?  Even  the  Persian 
had  his  prophet  Zoroaster,  and  his  Book, 


Whence  Came  It  ?  43 

the  Zend-avesta.  Surely  here  must  reside 
the  reason  for  the  hopeless  futility  of  his 
nation  and  the  favouredness  of  the  rest  of 
the  world  (his  purview  cannot  have  ex 
tended  west  or  north  of  Constantinople, 
nor  east  of  Persia) — "And  lo  !  Jew  and 
Christian  worship  Allah  and  say  that  He 
is  one,  and  that  there  is  no  god  but  He  ! 
Thus  it  was  revealed  to  the  nabi  (prophet), 
Moses,  in  the  Law,  and  to  the  nabi,  Jesus,  in 
the  Gospel.  Truly  it  must  be  so.  And 
they  say  that  there  is  a  Judgment  Day,  an 
assignment  of  reward  and  of  punishment 
for  ever,  a  Firdous  (Paradise)  and  Jehannam 
(Hell),  and  that  unbelievers  shall  be  con 
signed  to  that  Jehannam.  It  must  be  so  ! 
Are  there  not  some  of  us,  Warakah  my  uncle 
among  them,  who  are  seeking  to  return 
to  the  faith  of  our  forefather  Ibrahim 
(Abraham)  ?  Did  I  not  myself  in  boyhood 
listen  to  the  inspired  Kahin  (priest),  the 
Christian  Bishop  of  Najran,  Kuss  ibn 
Saada,  seated  on  a  red  camel  at  the  fair  of 
Ukaz  and  preaching  as  though  in  ecstasy. 
To  this  day  I  have  not  forgot  that  man 
nor  his  message.  Then  do  I  also  testify — 
'La  ildha  ilia  'lldhu!'  There  is  no  God 
but  God ! 


44        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

'  Muhammadur  rasfilu   'lldh  !  '     Moham 
med  is  the  Apostle  of  God. 


"  Why  not !  " 

"Why  not  Mohammed  the  Prophet  of 
Allah?"  This  thought  once  in  mind  was 
bound  to  come,  and  come  again,  and  recur 
with  cumulative  force  again  and  again. 
The  spirit  of  enquiry  was  in  the  air;  at 
least  four  well-known  contemporaries  of  his 
among  the  Kuraish  had  been  or  were  still 
enquiring  after  truth,  after  the  reality  of  that 
One  and  Supreme  Allah  whom  the  Kuraish 
honoured  in  name,  but  not  in  deed.  The 
thoughts  that  crowded  upon  a  mind  like 
his  were  therefore  as  the  piling  of  fuel,  pile 
upon  pile,  the  material  of  a  mighty  flame 
of  fire  which  only  awaited  the  spark  in 
order  to  burst  forth. 

Always  a  pensive  man,  he  became,  to 
wards  his  fortieth  year,  more  and  more 
contemplative  and  retiring.  He  was  wont 
to  go  apart  for  days  at  a  time  into  the 
wilderness,  for  solitary  meditation.  His 
favourite  spot  was  a  cave  near  the  foot  of 
Mount  Hira,  a  lofty,  stony  hill  a  few  miles 
north  of  Mecca.  Close  by  was  the  grave  of 


Whence  Came  It?  45 

one  of  those  four  enquirers  who  had  spent 
a  life-time  in  the  same  search.     The  soli 
tude  worked  upon  him.     The  awful  silence 
of  the   desert,   which    none  who  has   not 
experienced    it    can    appreciate,    strained  Mohammed's 
and  strung  every  faculty   of  his   soul  to  or  Relation 
breaking-point.  .  .  .  Until  at  last  It  came.  c'  6l°  A-D- 
...  A  heavenly  Shape  appeared  to  stand, 
"high  and  lifted  up,"  then  drawing  close 
to  him  —  as  it  were   "  within    two    bows' 
length,  or  yet  nearer "  :   and  It  spoke  to 
him :   he  heard  It :    and  this   is   what  It 
said  :— 

"  RECITE  ! 

"  IN  THE  NAME  OF  THE  LORD  WHO 

CREATED. 

"  CREATED  MAN  FROM  BLOOD  CONGEALED. 
"  RECITE  ! " 


So,  it  had  come !  Allah  was,  then,  the 
One  and  the  Only  God ;  He  had  sent  His 
angel,  Gabriel,  to  Mohammed ;  Mohammed 
was  the  Prophet  and  Apostle  of  God ;  and 
these  strange,  beautiful  rhymed  verses, 
what  were  they  if  not  the  beginning  of  the 
Arabic  "  Book  "  which  should  be  to  Moham 
med  and  the  Arabian  nation  what'  the 


46        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Tourah  had  been  to  Moses  and  the  nation 
of  Israel.1 

"  VERILY  IT  is  NO  OTHER  THAN  A  REVELA 
TION  THAT  HATH  BEEN  INSPIRED. 

ONE  MIGHTY  AND  STRONG  TAUGHT  IT 
HIM,— 

ONE  ENDUED  WITH  WISDOM.      HE  STOOD 

IN  THE  HIGHEST  PART  OF  THE  HORIZON, 
THEN  HE  DREW  NEAR  AND  APPROACHED, 
UNTIL  HE  WAS  AT  THE  DISTANCE  OF  TWO 

BOWS'  LENGTH  OR  YET  NEARER  : 
AND  HE  REVEALED  UNTO  HIS  SERVANT 
THAT  WHICH  HE  REVEALED." 

The  best  proof  of  the  reality  of  Moham 
med's  belief  in  the  reality  of  the  revelation, 
and  of  the  completeness  of  his  sincerity,  is 
that  he  fell  at  the  first  into  a  state  of  doubt 
concerning  it.  The  first  experience  left 
him  ardently  longing  for  a  second,  yet  the 
vision  delayed  and  tarried.  Khadijah,  the 
faithful  wife,  was  the  witness  and  consoler 
of  his  mental  agonies. 

And  after  long  waiting,  of  a  sudden  the 
same  strange  physical  experience  gripped 

1  It  is  notable. that  "  Koran "  (Qur'an)  is  simply  the 
verbal-noun  of  the  first  word  heard  by  Mohammed  from 
the  lips  of  the  Apparition, — "Recite." 


Whence  Came  It  ?  47 

him.  He  was  convulsed.  Ah  !  at  last  the 
fit  of  prophecy!  "Cover  me,  cover  me," 
he  cried  to  Khadijah.  And  she  covered 
his  convulsed  prostrate  form  with  a  mantle. 
And  again  the  words  came  to  him,  in  the 
same  rhymed  prose  as  before : 

"  O     THOU    THAT    ART     COVERED    WITH    A 
MANTLE  ! 

ARISE  AND  PREACH  ! 

AND  MAGNIFY  THY  LORD, 

PURIFY  THY  GARMENTS, 

AND  DEPART  FROM  ALL  UNCLEANNESS!  " 

And    after    this    there  was    no    gap   in 
these  "  periods  "  of  revelation. 

He  was  God's  prophet  (nabi),  apostle  Origin  of  the 
(rasul),  and  warner  (munthir).  He  had 
now  a  mission,  and  he  lived  but  to  fulfil  it. 
The  revelation-experiences  remained  in  his 
mind,  the  essential  part  of  the  whole  matter. 
As  these  revelations  recurred,  they  were 
jealously  memorised  or  written  down,  and 
after  his  death  the  collected  sum  of  them 
constituted  the  "Scripture,"  the  "Koran," 
the  "  Book  "  for  the  Arabian  nation,  en 
dorsing  the  Scriptures  that  had  come 
before.  And  to  him,  as  to  his  followers, 
physical  symptoms  were  what  indicated 


48        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  objectivity  of  the  revelation:  they 
would  come  on  at  all  times  or  any  time. 
...  At  first  consciously  sincere,  uncon 
sciously  the  realisation  of  the  extraordinary 
utility  of  these  experiences  no  doubt  grew 
upon  him.  From  speaking  of  the  broadest 
and  most  general  religious  truths,  GOD, 
the  Resurrection,  the  Judgment  and  After, 
he  began  to  expand  and  give  detail  to  his 
themes.  Then,  as  his  contact  with  the 
hard  realities  of  life  at  Mecca  produced 
ever  altering  circumstances,  it  seemed  that 
a  Sura  (chapter)  or  Ayah  (verse)  came  to 
meet  every  circumstance.  Later  on,  after 
the  death  of  Khadijah,  the  fitness  of  the 
revelation  to  the  circumstances  increased, 
and  ever  increased,  until  it  seemed  to  de 
generate  into  sanctions  for  his  personal 
needs,  and  notions,  and  policies, — and 
saddest  of  all,  his  revenges  and  his  per 
sonal  desires.  At  no  point  is  it  possible 
to  say  for  certain  :  '  Here  he  not  only  was 
self -deceived,  but  was  deceiver.'  Yet  the 
style  of  the  Koran  shows  the  change  for 
the  worse.  As  its  sincerity,  in  the  deepest 
sense  of  the  word,  seems  to  diminish,  its 
subject-matter  gets  more  and  more 
mundane  and  prosaic;  and  with  that  the 


Whence  Came  It  ?  49 

fire,  the  terseness,  the  rhymed  beauty  of 
the  style  gradually  fades  away  into  pro 
lixity,  tameness,  obscurity,  wearying  repi- 
titiousness. 

We  now  turn  to  the  development  of  History  of 
events — covering  about  twenty  years — be-  ^^^D.' 
tween  Mohammed's  second  "  experience  " 
and  his  death,  that  we  may  understand 
how  the  Arabian  prophet  created  the 
forces,  which  immediately  after  his  death 
turned  the  civilised  world  upside  down. 
This  period  divides  itself  naturally  into 
two  parts — the  time  of  preparation  before 
his  flight  to  Medina  (622  A.D.),  and  the 
time  of  the  consolidation  of  his  power, 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual,  after  that 
flight.  The  consciousness  of  Mohammed, 
its  preparation  and  development,  must  be 
very  firmly  grasped,  for  without  this  the 
whole  narrative  becomes  dead  and  devoid  of 
living  significance;  while  on  the  other  hand  if 
that  is  grasped,  it  will  be  possible  to  abridge 
very  considerably  the  narrative  of  events. 

The  son  of  Abdallah  stood,   as  Carlyle  First  Converts, 
finely  says,  in  a  minority  of  one.     But  his 
faith  in  the  reality  of  his  mission   was  so 
unfaltering  that  not  for  one  moment  did 


50        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

he  hesitate  to  make  his  message  known 
and  call  others  to  "  submission "  (islam) 
to  it.  His  very  first  convert  was  his  own 
wife.  Her  influence  over  him,  and  his 
over  her,  were  equally  great  and  com 
plete,  and  her  death  (c.  620  A.D.)  was  an 
irreparable  loss  to  Mohammed.  The  next 
convert  was  a  remarkable  man,  his  friend 
Abu  Bakr, — a  man  who  may  be  said 
literally  to  have  saved  Islam  twice  over  ; 
for,  but  for  him  it  would  not  have  greatly 
spread  in  Mecca  during  these  early  days  ; 
and  but  for  him,  as  first  Kahlifah  (Caliph) 
after  Mohammed's  death,  it  would  never 
have  left  the  Arabian  peninsula,  if  indeed 
it  had  escaped  destruction  there. 

Islam  as  a  It  seems  that  at  first  the  new  religion 

was  kept  a  secret  among  the  initiated. 
Their  numbers  gradually  grew,  largely  by 
the  personal  efforts  of  Abu  Bakr.  "  Not 
many  wise,  not  many  learned  "  were  called 
in  those  early  days  :  slaves,  many  of  them 
were.  When  at  last  the  secret  got  out, 
and  it  became  known  that  a  sect  had 
arisen  that  contemned  and  wished  to  destroy 
the  national  gods  and  idols,  a  persecution 
arose  in  which  some  of  these  poor  people 
bore  themselves  heroically,  in  one  or  two 


Whence  Came  It?  51 

cases  even  unto  death.  Mohammed  him 
self  could  not  be  touched — he  was  under 
his  uncle's  patronage,  and  to  injure  him 
would  have  been  to  start  a  blood-feud  with 
the  powerful  Hashimite  clan,  and  this  the 
Kuraish  were  not  prepared  to  do.  His 
own  immunity,  however,  did  not  save  him 
from  obloquy  and  insult.  But  the  sight  of 
the  distresses  of  his  followers  so  worked  on 
him  that  he  gave  them  leave  to  deny  their 
faith  with  mental  reservation,  if  torture 
or  death  were  threatened.  There  was 
nothing  meek  about  Mohammed  himself 
under  persecution.  His  cheeks  blazed  as 
he  denounced  Hell  -  fire  to  them,  and 
bitter  as  gall  are  the  curses  recorded  in 
the  Koran  itself.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
of  "  middle  height,  with  hair  that  was 
neither  straight  nor  curly :  with  large 
head,  large  eyes,  heavy  eyelashes,  a  reddish 
tint  in  his  eyes,  thick-bearded,  broad- 
shouldered,  with  thick  hands  and  feet." 
He  had  a  prominent  vein  on  his  forehead 
which  swelled  up  black  when  he  was  angry 
—and  this  added  to  the  effect  produced  by 
his  denunciations. 

The  years  passed  on — persecution  was  real 
and  vexatious.     It  is  noticeable  that  some 


52        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

of  the  very  best  converts  to  Islam  were 
made  in  this  period,  among  them  Omar,  a 
brave  and  noble  man,  of  whom  we  shall 
hear  again  as  Abu  Bakr's  successor  in  the 
Caliphate.  The  fact  of  these  converts  in 
the  midst  of  persecution  must  be  taken 
as  positive  proof  of  their  sense  of  the  reality 
of  Mohammed's  revelation  at  this  time, 
and  its  felt  superiority  to  anything  the 
old  order  had  to  offer. 

intercourse  with  Of  the  followers  of  the  former  mono- 
cfhristlans  theistic  religions,  the  Jews  were  the  ones  of 
whom  Mohammed  saw  most.  There  were 
many  of  them  in  Mecca,  and  he  did  every 
thing  he  could  to  win  their  favour.  The 
Moslems  turned  to  Jerusalem  for  prayer  ; 
the  successively  appearing  Suras  (chapters) 
.  of  the  Koran  dilated  on  the  stories  of  Bible 
heroes  with  ever-increasing  unction  and 
detail.  It  can  hardly  be  questioned  that 
Mohammed's  knowledge  of  these  things 
came  from  what  he  heard  from  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  Talmud.  The  con- 
fusedness  and  grossly  blundering  character 
of  his  versions  must  be  ascribed  to  the 
fables  and  absurdities  of  the  Talmud, 
and  to  the  natural  confusion  made  by  a 
man  who  takes  no  notes  of  what  he  hears. 


Whence  Came  It  ?  53 

His  knowledge  of  the  New  Testament 
was  even  more  limited, — in  all  proba 
bility  he  had  never  heard  a  word  of  it. 
The  pages  of  the  Koran  itself  bear  silent 
testimony  to  the  shameful  fact  that  the 
only  way  by  which  the  "  Christianity  "  of 
that  time  and  place  reached  the  Arabian 
prophet  was  through  the  false  "  gospels  " 
and  the  other  literature  of  some  heretical 
sects,  which  denied  the  Trinity  of  GOD, 
the  divine  Sonship,  and  redeeming  death 
of  Christ,  or  through  the  religious  romances 
of  the  Church,  which  themselves  ignored 
both,  and  in  effect  substituted  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  GOD  the  Maiden-Mother  of  Christ. 

The  persecution  of  the  Moslems  finally  Attempt  at 
became  so  vexatious  that  all  who  woe 
not  under  the  patronage  of  the  powerful 
families  were  given  leave  to  fly  to  Abyssinia, 
which  they  did.  At  this  time  even  the 
starkness  of  Mohammed's  puritanism  was 
relaxed,  and  in  a  weak  moment  he  at 
tempted  a  compromise  between  the  new 
faith  and  the  old. 

The  scene  is  thus  described : l  "  On  a 
certain  day,  the  chief  men  of  Mecca,  as 
sembled  in  a  group  beside  the  Kaaba,  dis- 

1  See  "  Muir's  Life/'  vol.  ii. 


54        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

cussed  as  was  their  wont  the  affairs  of  the 
city,  when  Mohammed  appeared,  and  seat 
ing  himself  by  them  in  a  friendly  manner, 
began  to  recite  in  their  hearing  Sura  LIII. 
The  chapter  opens  with  a  description  of 
the  first  visit  of  Gabriel  to  Mohammed, 
and  of  a  later  vision  of  that  angel,  in  which 
certain  heavenly  mysteries  were  revealed. 
It  then  proceeds  : 

'  AND  SEE  YE  NOT  !  L.AT  AND  UzZA, 

AND  MANAT  THE  THIRD  BESIDES  ?  ' 

When  he  had  reached  this  verse  the  devil 
suggested  an  expression  of  the  thoughts 
which  for  many  a  day  had  possessed  his 
soul ;  and  put  into  his  mouth  words  of 
reconciliation  and  compromise,  the  re 
velation  of  which  he  had  been  longing  for 
from  God,  namely  : 

'  THESE  ARE  THE  EXALTED  MAIDENS 
AND  VERILY  THEIR  INTERCESSION  IS  TO  BE  HOPED  FOR.' 

The  Kuraish  were  surprised  and  delighted 
with  this  acknowledgment  of  their  deities ; 
and  as  Mohammed  wound  up  the  Sura  with 
the  closing  words, — 

1  WHEREFORE  BOW  DOWN  BEFORE  ALLAH  AND  SERVE 
HIM/ 
the  whole  assembly  prostrated  themselves 

1  Arabian  goddesses. 


Whence  Came  It?  55 

with  one  accord  on  the  ground  and 
worshipped.  .  .  .  And  all  the  people  were 
pleased  at  what  Mohammed  had  spoken, 
and  they  began  to  say :  '  Now  we  know 
that  it  is  the  Lord  alone  that  giveth  life 
and  taketh  it  away,  that  createth  and  sup- 
porteth.  These  our  goddesses  make  inter 
cession  with  Him  for  us  ;  and  as  thou  hast 
conceded  unto  us  a  portion,  we  are  con 
tent  to  follow  thee.'  But  their  words  dis 
quieted  Mohammed,  and  he  retired  to  his 
house."  The  scandalised  indignation  of  his 
followers  warned  him  that  he  was  on  the 
wrong  track,  and  hastily  attributing  the 
verse  about  the  "  exalted  Maidens  "  to  the 
suggestion  of  Satan,  he  returned  to  his 
former  uncompromising  attitude ;  and  the 
Abyssinian  refugees  who  had  returned, 
probably  on  hearing  that  a  reconciliation 
had  taken  place,  went  back  to  Abyssinia, 
where  they  remained  till  after  Mohammed 
himself  had  fled  to  Yathreb,  afterwards 
called  Medina  al  Nabi.  The  traditional 
story  makes  Mohammed  alter  his  Sura,  by 
a  further  revelation,  on  the  evening  of  the 
day  on  which  it  was  uttered. 
The  remaining  Moslems,  since  they  could  Mohammed 

,  i_    ?  i  j       •        ,  i      prepares  to 

not    be   touched,   were    boycotted,   in   the  leave  Mecca. 


56        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

literal  sense  of  the  term.  So  severe  was 
the  boycott,  and  so  precarious  had  become 
Mohammed's  own  position  now  that  Abu 
Talib,  his  patron,  was  dead,  that  he  decided 
to  leave  Mecca  as  soon  as  he  could.  The 
44  sacred  months  "  during  which  all  hostili 
ties  ceased,  and  pilgrims  from  far  and  wide 
resorted  to  Mecca,  gave  him  his  chance. 
Some  pilgrims  from  Yathreb,  on  arrival  at 
Mecca,  were  accosted  by  Mohammed,  who 
preached  to  them  his  religion.  In  him  and 
in  it  they  saw  the  solution  of  their  own 
pressing  domestic  problems.  For  Yathreb 
was  hopelessly  torn  by  schism, — tribes  of 
Jews  and  tribes  of  Arabs,  divided  against 
themselves  and  against  each  other : — a 
stranger,  and  outsider,  with  a  politico - 
social  religion  like  the  prophet's,  might 
well  prove  the  unifying  factor  which  they 
knew  they  were  utterly  unable  to  produce 
themselves.  The  men  went  back,  secured 
the  allegiance  of  many,  and  at  Mecca  next 
year  took  an  oath  to  Mohammed.  The 
story  is  told  as  follows  : — 

'The  days  of  pilgrimage1  at  last  again 
came  round,  and  Mohammed  sought  the 
appointed  spot  in  a  sheltered  glen  near 

1  Muir,  vol.  ii.,  p.  210. 


GROUP    OF    BATTAKS,    SUMATRA 


MOSLEM    WORKMEN,    BOMBAY 
KNOTTING    CLOTH    FOR    DYERS 


MOSLEM    BOYS,    N.    AFRICA 


Whence  Came  It?  57 

Mina.  His  apprehensions  were  at  once 
dispelled  ;  for  there  he  found  a  band  of 
twelve  faithful  disciples  ready  to  acknow 
ledge  him  as  their  prophet. . . .  They  plighted 
their  faith  to  Mohammed  thus :— '  We 
will  not  worship  any  but  the  one  God ; 
we  will  not  steal,  neither  will  we  commit 
adultery,  or  kill  our  children  ;  we  will  not 
slander  in  any  wise  ;  and  we  will  not  dis 
obey  the  Prophet  in  anything  that  is  right.' 
This  was  afterwards  called  the  Pledge  of 
Women,  because,  as  not  embracing  any 
stipulation  to  defend  the  Prophet,  it  was 
the  only  oath  ever  required  from  females. 
When  all  had  taken  this  engagement, 
Mohammed  replied : — 'If  ye  fulfil  the 
pledge,  Paradise  shall  be  your  reward.  He 
that  shall  fail  in  any  part  thereof,  to  God 
belongeth  his  concern,  either  to  punish 
or  forgive.'  This  memorable  proceeding 
is  known  in  the  annals  of  Islam  as  the  first 
pledge  of  Acaba,  for  that  was  the  name 
of  the  little  eminence  or  defile  whither  they 
retired  from  observation." 

These  twelve  men  then  returned  to 
Yathreb,  and  preached  with  such  extra 
ordinary  success  that  at  the  pilgrimage  of 
the  following  year  they  were  able  to  invite 


58        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Mohammed  to  reside  in  their  midst  as 
prophet,  and,  as  was  thereby  involved  ab 
solutely,  as  theocratic  chief. 
Second  Pledge  A  secret  meeting  was  arranged  at  the 
.D.  same  sP°t  as  in  the  preceding  year.  "  One 1 
or  two  hours  before  midnight,  Mohammed 
repaired  to  the  rendezvous,  the  first  of  the 
party.  He  was  attended  only  by  his  uncle 
Abbas.  To  secure  the  greater  secrecy, 
the  assembly  was,  they  say,  kept  private 
even  from  the  Moslems  of  Mecca.  .  .  . 
Mohammed  had  not  long  to  wait.  Soon 
the  Medina  (Yathreb)  converts,  singly, 
and  by  twos  and  threes,  were  descried 
through  the  moonlight  moving  stealthily 
along  the  stony  valley  and  among  the 
barren  rocks  towards  the  spot.  They 
amounted  to  seventy-three  men  and  two 
women.  All  the  early  converts  who  had 
before  met  the  prophet  on  the  two  preceding 
pilgrimages  were  there.  When  they  were 
seated,  Abbas,  in  a  low  voice,  broke  the 
silence  by  a  speech  to  the  following  effect : 
6  Ye  company  of  the  Khazraj  !  This  my 
kinsman  dwelleth  amongst  us  in  honour 
and  safety.  His  clan  will  defend  him,— 
both  those  that  are  converts,  and  those 

1  Muir,  vol.  ii. 


Whence  Came  It?  59 

who  still  adhere  to  their  ancestral  faith. 
But  he  preferreth  to  seek  protection  from 
you.  Wherefore  consider  well  the  matter  ; 
and  count  the  cost.  If  ye  be  resolved,  and 
able  to  defend  him, — well.  But  if  ye 
doubt  your  ability,  at  once  abandon  the 
design.' 

"  Then  spoke  Abu  Barfi,  an  aged  chief  :— 
4  We   have   listened   to   thy   words.      Our 
resolution  is  unshaken.     Our  lives  are  at  his 
service.     It  is  now  for  him  to  speak.' 

"  Mohammed  began,  as  was  his  wont,  by 
reciting  appropriate  passages  from  the 
Koran ;  then  he  invited  all  present  to  the 
service  of  God,  dwelt  upon  the  claims  and 
blessings  of  Islam,  and  concluded  by  saying 
that  he  would  be  content  if  the  strangers 
pledged  themselves  to  defend  him  as  they 
did  their  own  wives  and  children.  He  had 
no  sooner  ended  than  from  every  quarter 
there  arose  a  confused  and  tumultuous 
noise ;  it  was  the  eager  voices  of  the 
seventy  testifying  their  readiness  to  take 
the  pledge,  and  protesting  that  they  would 
receive  the  prophet  even  if  it  cost  the  loss 
of  property  and  the  slaughter  of  their  chiefs. 
Then  Abbas,  who  stood  by  holding  his 
nephew's  hand,  called  aloud  :  '  Hush  ! 


60        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

There  are  spies  about.  Let  your  men  of 
years  stand  forth,  and  let  them  speak  on 
your  behalf.  Of  a  verity,  we  are  fearful 
for  your  safety  if  our  people  should  dis 
cover  us.  Then  when  ye  have  plighted 
your  faith  depart  to  your  encampments.' 
So  their  chief  men  stood  forth.  Then 
said  Abu  Bara  : — '  Stretch  out  thy  hand,  O 
Mohammed  !  '  And  he  stretched  it  out ; 
and  Bara  clapped  his  hand  thereon,  as  the 
manner  was  in  taking  an  oath  of  fealty. 
Then  the  seventy  came  forward  one  by  one 
and  did  the  same.  And  Mohammed  named 
twelve  of  the  chief  men  and  said  : — '  Moses 
chose  from  amongst  his  people  twelve 
leaders.  Ye  shall  be  the  sureties  for  the 
rest,  even  as  were  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  ; 
and  I  am  the  surety  for  my  people.'  And 
all  answered  :  '  Be  it  so.'  .  .  .  Mohammed 
gave  the  command,  and  all  hurried  back 
to  their  halting  places.  Thus  passed  the 
memorable  night  of  the  Second  Pledge  of 
Acaba." 

The  Higra  or  Nothing  now  bound  Mohammed  to 
NL§fon?622  Mecca;  especially  as  Khadijah,  his  wife, 
A-D-  was  dead.  After  some  exciting  adven 

tures  he   escaped  with   a  number  of  the 
Meccan  followers,  to  be  called  for  all  time 


Whence  Came  It?  61 

"  The  Companions,"  and  arrived  at  Yathreb 
in  June  622  A.D.  Yathreb  was  henceforth 
to  be  known  as  El  Medina,  "  The  (Prophet's) 
City,"  and  from  622  was  to  date  the 
Moslem  Calendar,  so  that  epoch-making 
year  is  known  as  "  Anno  Higrce  "  1,  the 
First  of  the  "  Flight  "  (Higra). 

It   is    often   said   that   from   that   time  Opportunity 
Mohammed   became   a   potentate   invested  Higra— Ten> 
with  worldly  power,   and  that  the   theo-  P°ral  Power- 
cratic  character    of  Islam  was   from  this 
time  determined.     The  Medina  period  gave 
Islam  its  opportunity  to  become  a  temporal 
power,  but  in  principle  it  never  was  any 
thing  else.      Let  us  be  very  clear  on  this 
all-important  point. 

It  is  perfectly  clear  that  in  Arabia  in  the 
seventh  century  religion  was,  and  inevitably 
was,  simply  the  obverse  side  of  the  social 
and  political  organisation  of  the  Arabs. 
Among  them,  as  in  all  undeveloped  com 
munities,  the  social  arrangement  was  in- 
dissolubly  bound  up  with  politics  and 
religion.  These  three  were  a  trinity  that 
was  assuredly  an  indivisible  unity.  A 
study  of  the  Old  Testament  shows  us 
that  no  other  theory  ever  occurred  to 
the  minds  of  nearly  all  of  the  prophets 


62        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

and  other  sacred  writers.  To  Isaiah,  for 
example,  the  social,  political,  and  religious 
position  of  Zion  were  three  aspects  of  the 
same  thing — Jehovah's  election  of  the 
Israelitish  nation  to  be  His  people.  It 
was  only  the  shock  of  the  Babylonian 
captivity  that  compelled  the  beginning  of 
the  reconsideration  of  this  theory,  which 
nevertheless  reigned  even  through  the  cen 
turies  of  Judah's  weakness  and  prostra 
tion.  It  was  JESUS  CHRIST  who  came  to 
proclaim  that  the  hour  of  separation  be 
tween  religion  and  world-power  had  come, 
and  to  rouse  against  Himself  the  deadly 
hatred  of  men  who  would  not  let  go  of 
worldly  hopes,  nor  tolerate  their  separation 
from  religion,  nor  assent  for  one  moment 
to  that  Magna  Charta  of  the  first  purely 
spiritual  faith  the  world  had  ever  seen. 

"  MY  KINGDOM  IS  NOT  OF  THIS  WORLD  :  IF  MY 
KINGDOM  WERE  OF  THIS  WORLD,  THEN  WOULD  MY 
SERVANTS  FIGHT.  .  .  .  BuT  NOW  IS  MY  KINGDOM  NOT 
FROM  HENCE." 

"  YE  HAVE  HEARD  THAT  IT  HATH  BEEN  SAID,  AN 
EYE  FOR  AN  EYE,  AND  A  TOOTH  FOR  A  TOOTH  :  BUT  I 
SAY  UNTO  YOU,  THAT  YE  RESIST  NOT  EVIL  :  BUT  WHO 
SOEVER  SHALL  SMITE  THEE  ON  THY  RIGHT  CHEEK,  TURN 
TO  HIM  THE  OTHER  ALSO."  l 

1  St  John  xviii.  36  ;  St  Matt.  v.  38,  3D. 


Whence  Came  It?  6 


The  first  Magna  Charta — and  the  Last. 
For  the  Islam  of  Mohammed,  coming  after 
Christ,  reverted  to  the  lower  types  before 
Him.  The  Prophet  of  Islam  was  in  fact 
precisely  the  type  of  Messiah  after  which 
the  Jews  of  Christ's  day  hankered,  and 
which  Jesus  Christ  Himself  definitely  re 
jected,  from  the  Mount  of  Temptation  and 
the  Mount  of  Calvary. 

The  Kuraish  saw  clearly  enough  that 
Mohammed  must  join  politics  to  religion, 
civil  force  to  religious  authority.  The 
man  who  determined  the  fate  of  the 
Kaaba  must  ipso  facto  be  the  chief  of  the 
nation  and  remodel  its  entire  structure ; 
he  must  ipso  facto  involve  them  with 
the  other  Arab  tribes  for  whom  the 
Kuraish,  as  it  were,  held  the  Kaaba 
in  trust ;  and  the  Abyssinian  incident 
had  taught  them  that  he  must  ipso  facto 
involve  them  with  foreign  enemies  also  ; 
for  Abyssinia  had  quite  recently  proved 
a  deadly  danger  to  Arabia  in  general 
and  to  the  Kuraish  in  particular.  Hence 
their  vehement  opposition  to  Mohammed, 
a  political  resistance  at  bottom,  as  many  a 
religious  persecution  has  been  before  and 
since. 


Summary  of 
History, 
A.H.  i-n, 
A.D.  622-633. 


(i)  Treatment 
of  the  Jews. 


64        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

And  what  they  knew,  he  knew.  When 
he  passed  from  Mecca  to  Medina,  the  oppor 
tunity  had  come ;  the  day  of  physical 
weakness  had  passed,  the  day  of  power 
was  at  hand,  power  to  be  a  Moses,  to  lead 
a  new  nation,  to  set  up  here  in  Arabia  a 
kingdom  where  Allah  should  reign  through 
his  prophet.  To  deny  Mohammed  was 
ever  to  Mohammed  an  even  more  unfor 
givable  offence  than  to  deny  Allah  ;  witness 
his  subsequent  treatment  of  the  Jews,  as 
rigid  deists  as  himself. 

But  opportunity,  while  it  merely  brings 
out  what  is  already  in  a  theory,  may  result 
in  the  deterioration  of  a  character.  And 
so  we  find  at  Medina  after  Khadijah's  death 
the  tares  beginning  to  show  up  quite  as 
prominently  as  the  wheat  in  that  mixed 
character  of  Mohammed,  and  that  mixed 
religion  of  Islam.  It  is  not  possible  to  do 
more  than  indicate  the  history  of  the  ten 
years  that  elapsed  between  A.H.  1  and 
the  death  of  the  Arabian  prophet. 

First  of  all,  the  Jews  were  thrown  over. 
From  Medina  a  number  of  them  treated 
with  Mohammed's  enemies  in  Mecca,  and 
sent  deputations  to  one  centre  and  another 
in  Arabia,  denouncing  Mohammed  as  the 


Whence  Came  It?  65 

impostor  who  wished  to  subjugate  the 
peninsula.  By  their  treaty  made  with 
the  Meccans,  each  party  was  bound  to 
oppose  Mohammed  as  long  as  life  lasted. 

The  allies  besieged  Medina,  but  without 
a  good  commander,  the  Gentile  force  soon 
dispersed,  and  after  various  negotiations  a 
number  of  Jews  suffered  within  the  city. 
The  men  were  killed,  their  goods  seized, 
and  the  women  and  children  enslaved. 
A  great  trench  was  dug,  into  which  the 
bodies  of  the  Jews  were  cast  after  decapita 
tion.  Had  they  accepted  Islam  these  Jews 
might  have  preserved  themselves  and  their 
possessions. 

Before  this  there  had  been  private  as 
sassinations  of  certain  Jews — these  things 
are  familiar  enough  in  history — it  is  only 
when  they  are  done  in  the  name  of  a 
religion  thought  to  be  God's  last  word  to 
man,  and  by  one  whose  figure  is  taken  as 
the  eternal  human  ideal,  that  we  exclaim 
"  The  pity  of  it." 

The  breach  with  the  Jews  involved  the 
final  decision  to  make  Mecca  the  centre  of 
the  new  faith.  It  had  at  one  time  seemed 
that  Jerusalem  might  be  the  centre ;  now 
everything  connected  with  the  Jewish 


66        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Faith  was  abandoned,  new  fasts  and  feasts 
and  rites  of  a  more  material  complexion 
were  substituted  for  the  old,  of  course  all 
by  divine  commands,  "  abrogating "  the 
former  ones. 

(2)  Matrimonial  In  the  life  of  the  autocrat  of  history  also, 
matrimonial  and  other  alliances  and  amours, 
play  an  inevitable  and  important  part. 
Here  again  that  part  is  said  to  be,  and  is  of 
course  to  some  extent,  a  matter  of  politics. 
The  easiest  way  of  binding  this  and  that 
great  family  or  nation  to  the  autocrat  and 
his  house  is  by  marrying  into  them.  And 
in  polygamous  Arabia  the  method  was  so 
obvious  that  it  caused  no  question.  The 
size  of  a  man's  harem  moreover  is  a  de 
monstration  of  his  importance.  Even  the 
practice  of  servile  and  captive  concubinage 
may  be  palliated  by  the  consideration  that 
it  settled  the  fortunes  of  many  homeless 
women  ;  and,  in  the  case  of  the  conqueror, 
his  fame  as  such  could  not  be  marked  unless 
he  took  the  noblest  and  the  most  beautiful 
for  himself.  And  if  these  processes  involved 
this  particular  Potentate's  marrying  more 
wives  than  his  own  divine  law  allowed,  or 
taking  unto  himself  women  who  were 
barred  to  him  by  the  unwritten  law  of  the 


Whence  Came  It  ?  67 

conscience  of  the  community,  such  things 
could  be  smoothed  over — by  a  very  peremp 
tory  smoothing  sometimes — with  as  many 
special  divine  commands  as  was  necessary. 
Once  more  the  thing  that  disquiets  is  that 
this  is  the  man  who  stands  forth  as  the 
ultimate  ideal  of  humanity,  and  all  the  un- 
edifying  matters  of  Zainab,  Miriam,  Ayesha, 
Rihana,  and  the  rest  are  dignified  as  the 
signs  of  God's  special  favour  to  His  prophet. 
In  manipulations  of  the  marriage  laws  at 
which  even  sixteenth  century  Popes  of 
Rome  drew  the  line,  Allah  showed  the  most 
accommodating  spirit  in  seventh  century 
Arabia. 

Finally,   the    methods   whereby    in    ten  (3)  Conquest  of 

IT,  £    TIT  -i       £  Mecca  and 

years  he  became  master  of  Mecca  and  of  Arabia. 
the  whole  peninsula  : — in  these  once  more, 
his  actions,  if  judged  by  the  standard  of 
his  time  and  by  the  character  of  the  work 
taken  in  hand,  excite  little  surprise.  In 
some  things  they  rose  above  the  average, 
in  others  sank  below.  The  secular  historian 
would  rightly  find  him  great  and  magnifi 
cent  for  his  indomitable  faith  in  his  cause  ; 
brave,  skilful,  and  dauntless ;  clever  in 
making  capital  even  out  of  defeat,  and 
quick  as  lightning  to  follow  up  success  ; 


68        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

relentless  where  severity  was  profitable,  but 
loving  neither  war  nor  slaughter  for  their 
own  sake ;  mild  towards  the  vanquished, 
unless  they  had  irritated  him  at  some  weak 
point.  How  much  was  admirable  in  his 
dealings  with  men  !  how  courteous  he  was 
to  enquirers,  how  kind  to  children,  how 
wise  with  his  hot-headed  followers  !  And, 
informing  and  warming  everything,  there 
was  that  burning  zeal  for  God;  which, 
begotten  in  those  times  of  retirement  at 
the  first,  never  wavered,  even  though  its 
quality  may  have  deteriorated.  Here  are 
all  the  elements  of  a  great  man;  nay,  a 
man  of  a  unique  type  of  greatness.  Had 
it  not  been  so,  he  would  not  have  com 
manded  the  enthusiastic  devotion  of  that 
first  generation  of  followers,  well-nigh  the 
worship  of  the  next,  and  the  pride  of  all 
succeeding  ones.  Had  it  not  been  so, 
the  hosts  of  Islam  would  not  have  gone 
forth,  loyal  to  the  commands  of  their 
great  Leader,  to  smite  and  to  convert  the 
world.  .  .  . 

Such,  or  some  such  judgment  on  the 
character  of  Mohammed  is  what  is  given 
by  the  secular  historian,  nay,  by  the 
student  of  human  nature.  "  Be  it  so  !  " 


Whence  Came  It  ?  69 

"  If  there  be  any  virtue  .  .  .  think  on 
these  things."  But,  there  is  the  dark  re 
verse.  For  just  as  the  best  feeling  and  the 
conscience  of  the  time  was  shocked  at  the 
man  of  God,  who  in  cold  blood  slaughtered 
the  males  of  a  whole  tribe  of  Jews  in 
one  evening ;  or  who  induced  the  divorce 
and  marriage  of  another  man's  wife,  and 
that  man  his  son-in-law ;  so  in  this  matter 
of  warfare  and  conquest  they  were  in 
dignant  at  the  spectacle  of  Moslems  coolly 
breaking  through  universally  binding  pacts, 
such  as  the  non- destruction  of  palm  trees, 
and  the  suspension  of  hostilities  in  the  sacred 
month;  or  violating  their  word;  or  out 
raging  the  very  natural  affections  them 
selves,  when  believing  son  was  heard 
glorying  in  the  death-penalty  that  fell  on 
unbelieving  father,  nay  with  ferocity  urging 
that  the  executioner's  sword  should  smite 
and  not  spare.  Spirit  and  flesh,  gold  and 
clay,  higher-than  and  lower-than  average 
human  nature — such  is  the  strange  double 
phenomenon  that  Mohammed  presents  to 
us  all  through ;  and  with  him,  the  religion 
he  founded,  the  Book  he  left,  the  history 
he  caused,  the  organisation  he  initiated. 
The  Meccans  were  vanquished,  to  put  the 


70        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

matter  very  concisely,  through  the  strategic 
position  of  the  Moslems  at  Medina.  The 
position  of  this  town,  lying  as  it  does  on  the 
trade-route  to  Syria,  on  which  the  very 
life  of  Mecca  depended,  enabled  them  to 
threaten  and  finally  dictate  terms  to  the 
proud,  chivalrous,  disorganised,  and  hope 
lessly  futile  aristocracy  of  Mecca.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  detail  the  varying  fortunes 
of  those  years ;  how  Mohammed  was  soon 
driven  by  the  starvation  of  the  Moslems 
in  Medina  to  resort  to  freebooting  raids  on 
the  Meccan  caravans,  his  victory  of  Badr 
(March  624),  his  defeat  and  set-back  at 
Uhud,  his  successful  repulse  of  an  attack 
on  Medina  which  proved  the  turn  of  the 
tide,  the  enormous  accession  to  his  strength 
as  the  Arabian  tribes  sought  to  come  to  the 
light  of  the  star  so  clearly  in  the  ascendant ; 
his  triumphant  entry  into  Mecca  (under 
a  truce)  to  perform  the  pilgrimage ;  and 
his  final  triumph,  two  years  later,  when  he 
entered  Mecca,  this  time  as  unquestioned 
conqueror,  and  destroyed  every  idol  in  the 
Kaaba  and  the  whole  city,  consecrating 
that  bethel  with  its  Black  Stone  to  be  the 
visible  centre  of  the  worship  of  Allah  for 
evermore. 


Whence  Came  It?  71 

This  event  was  of  great  importance. 
Mohammed  had  advanced  on  Mecca 
with  ten  thousand  men  (Jan.  630).  There 
was  little  fighting — he  was  soon  lord 
of  Mecca.  l  "  He  proceeded  to  the  Kaaba  ; 
reverently  saluting  with  his  staff  one  by  one 
the  numerous  idols  placed  around,  he  com 
manded  that  they  should  be  hewn  down. 
The  great  image  of  Hobal,  reared  as  the 
tutelary  deity  of  Mecca  in  front  of  the 
Kaaba,  shared  the  common  fate.  '  Truth 
hath  come,'  exclaimed  Mohammed,  as  it 
fell  with  a  crash  to  the  ground,  4  and  false 
hood  hath  vanished ;  for  falsehood  is 
evanescent.' '  Thus  throughout  the  land 
idols  were  destroyed,  but  the  sanctity  of 
Mecca  was  to  be  cherished  and  perpetuated. 

This  last  was  a  magnificent  stroke  of 
policy,  besides  satisfying  his  own  insup- 
pressible  hankering  after  Mecca  and  its 
fetish,  for  it  bound  the  Meccans,  and  the 
Mecca- visiting  Arabs  to  the  new  regime  and 
faith  as  nothing  else  could  have  done.  The 
spiritual  inconsistency  of  the  procedure  was 
only  vaguely  noticed  by  the  people.  Mo 
hammed  was  clearly  the  prophet  of  Allah  : 
let  him  do  what  he  list — it  was  from  Allah. 

1  Muir,  vol.  ii. 


72        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

(4)  Submission  A  term  was  now  set  for  every  man  in 
Arabia  to  submit  to  Islam  :  Arabia  was  to 
be  solid  for  Allah  and  the  Arabian  prophet- 
leader.  "  And  when  the  sacred  months  are 
pasty  kill  those  who  join  other  gods  beside 
God  wherever  ye  shall  find  them."  The 
tribes  knew  how  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
and  came  in  to  heel.  Their  "  conversion  " 
was  accepted  with  all  complaisance,  for  Mo 
hammed  waived  scrutiny  into  the  motives 
of  his  converts  as  naively  as  Islam  has  done 
ever  since.  The  Arabian  prophet  was  un 
disputed  lord  of  all  Arabia. 

Did  Mohammed  How  far  did  the  prophet  intellectually 
realise  the  universality  of  Islam?  How 
far  did  he  explicitly  teach  and  command 
a  world-wide  propaganda  ?  That  there 
was  development  in  his  mind  with  respect 
to  this  matter  is  highly  probable.  His 
original  ambition  seems  to  have  been 
to  be  the  Arabian  prophet-leader,  a 
Moses  to  his  people.  But  he  was  one 
of  those  who  move  a  step  at  a  time 
and  allow  their  dreams  to  grow,  pro 
gressively  with  their  success.  He  was  too 
much  of  a  man  of  action  to  be  a  thorough 
idealist,  and  too  lacking  in  knowledge  of  the 
world  scientifically  to  foresee  all  the  im- 


Whence  Came  It?  73 

plications  of  his  own  creed.  But  that  that 
creed  was  in  the  very  core  of  it  at  once 
universalistic  and  aggressive  is  even  already, 
it  is  hoped,  amply  evident. 

And  to  a  very  great  extent  Mohammed  (s)  Despatches 

v       jY  •        v      j.-  TIT         toMonarchsof 

did  dare  to  realise  those  implications.   More  Surrounding 
admirable,   more    daring,   and    more    cap- 
tivating  to  the  imagination  than  any  of  his 
Arabian  conquests,  is  the  "  circular  note  "  he 
sent  to  the  surrounding  monarchs,  includ 
ing   Byzantium,  Egypt,  Syria,  Persia,  and 
others,   in   which   with   splendid   audacity 
and  faith  he  summoned  them  to  embrace 
Islam  !     How  splendid  were  that  audacity  -^j 
and  that  faith  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  grasped  _ 
by    the    reader    who    has    in    imagination    ^  ^ 
sufficiently    entered    into    the    relation    of 
Araby  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  the  century  ~j  ~^| 
to  which  we  have  been  trying  to  transport 
ourselves.  .  .  . 

And  at  the  back  of  that  summons  the  War  with  Syria, 
sword  already  glinted  menacingly,  half  drawn 
from  the  scabbard.  Nay,  the  Rubicon  had 
been  actually  crossed  in  the  life-time  of  the 
prophet;  for  to  avenge  a  slight  on  one  of  those 
ambassadors  of  Islam,  a  Moslem  force  had 
actually  crossed  the  northern  frontier  and 
penetrated  into  Roman  Syria  as  far  as  the 


Battle  of 
Wacusa,  Sept. 
A.D.  634. 


Death  of 
Mohammed, 
A.  0.633. 


74        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Dead  Sea.  The  Byzantine  official  met  the 
little  force  with  an  army.  The  great  man 
must  have  rubbed  his  eyes  at  so  mad  a  busi 
ness,  so  much  madder  than  he  would  have 
predicted  of  even  those  madcap  Arabs.  On 
that  occasion  indeed  he  sent  them  reeling 
back  whence  they  came.  But  at  the  very 
hour  of  the  prophet's  death,  another  ex 
pedition,  burning  for  revenge,  was  ready 
to  set  forth ;  and  go  forth  it  did,  though  all 
fickle  Arabia  was  springing  back  like  a 
broken  bow.  The  raid  met  with  success. 
The  Roman  authorities  probably  did  little 
more  than  shrug  their  shoulders  ;  but  in 
less  than  three  years,  at  the  battle  of 
Wacusa  on  the  Yermuk,  in  one  pitched 
battle,  these  men  of  the  desert  had  anni 
hilated  the  Roman  hosts,  and  Theodorus 
their  general,  brother  of  the  mighty 
Emperor  Heraclius  himself,  covered  his 
face  with  his  mantle,  as  he  sat,  unable  to 
endure  the  intolerable  spectacle  of  slaughter 
and  of  shame,  awaiting  his  own  end.  .  .  . 

We  have  anticipated  the  next  chapter 
to  make  the  reader  realise  how  entirely 
of  a  piece  the  period  of  Mohammed's 
personal  reign  in  Medina  is  with  the  period 
that  immediately  followed  his  death.  His 


Whence  Came  It?  75 

own  work  was  indeed  done.  He  passed 
away  in  Ayesha's  arms  with  a  muttered 
prayer  for  forgiveness  "  for  the  former  and 
the  latter  sins,"  A.H.  11,  633  A.D. 

The  sketch  that  this  chapter  has  pre 
sented  has  been  that  of  a  very  great  man, 
with  the  mixed  character  of  light  and  shade 
which  the  natural  great  man  ever  displays. 
We  have  seen,  moreover,  a  man  with  a 
burning  religious  zeal,  and  this  very  fact 
perhaps  makes  the  lights  very  bright,  the 
shades  very  dark.  The  mixture  is  further 
complicated  by  the  mixed  character  of  his 
office,  as  uniting  prophet  and  medium  of 
communication  between  God  and  man 
with  theocratic  chief.  But  summoned  up 
inevitably  by  his  own  special  claim — silently 
there  rises  beside  him  .  .  .  the  figure  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  The  man  of  Arabia,  for  lack 
of  knowledge  of  Him,  set  up  for  his  fol 
lowers  a  universal  ideal  of  character. 
Carlyle  measures  him  with  other  man-made 
ideals,  and  finds  him  great.  But  he  has 
measured  himself  with  the  stainless,  the 
all-loving,  and  all-lovely  Christ!  And  as 
that  white  life,  from  Bethlehem  and  Naza 
reth,  to  Calvary  and  Olivet,  appears  once 
more  to  the  eye  of  our  soul,  how  can  we 


76        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

but  find  that  other  life-record,  that  dares 
to  compete  with  JESUS,  fall  far  short? 
And  yet  it  stands  as  the  ideal,  passionately 
loved  and  defended  by  hundreds  of  millions 
of  souls  to-day,  blinding  their  eyes  to  any 
other,  be  it  the  Lord  from  Heaven  Himself. 
How  is  this  ? 

QUESTIONS  ON  CHAPTER  II 

1.  Give    a    sketch    of    Mohammed's    life    to    his 
fortieth  year. 

2.  Describe  Mohammed's   first  "  experience/'  or 
revelation.     What  was  the  origin  of  the  Koran  ? 

3.  What    events    led    to  the   Prophet's   flight  to 
Medina  ? 

4.  What   were    the    relations    of   Mohammed    to 
Jews  and  Christians  at  different  periods  of  his  life  ? 

5.  Do  you  consider  that  the  death  of  Khadijah 
marked  any  epoch  in  the  life  of  the  prophet?     If 
so,  why  ? 

6.  Give  a  brief  history  of  the  chief  events  from 
the  Higra  to  the  death  of  Mohammed. 

7.  How  did  it  happen  that  Mohammed  exercised 
temporal  power  in  his  later  life  ? 

8.  What  do  you  know  of  the  condition  of  Arabia 
in  the  seventh  century  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

Mum,  Sir  WILLIAM — Life  of  Mohammed,  vols.  i.  to  iv. 

MARGOLIOUTH — Mohammed. 

CARLYLE — Heroes    and    Hero-worship,     "  Hero    as 

Prophet." 

ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Islam,  chap.  ii. 
ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam,  chaps. 

i.  to  iv. 
SALE — Koran,  Preliminary  Discourse. 


CHAPTER  III 

HOW    CAME    IT  ? 

THE  whence  of  Islam  was,  then,  Mohammed. 
What  he  was,  what  he  taught,  the  way  he 
took  hold  of  mighty  latent  forces  and  sub 
dued  them  to  work  irresistibly  towards  an 
end — in  all  this  we  found  the  primary  cause 
of  the  phenomenon  we  saw  in  the  first 
chapter. 

In  this  chapter  we  are  still,  indeed,  con-  Triumph  of 
sidering  the  same  theme.  The  explanation  Mohammed 
of  Mohammed  is  the  explanation  of  the 
Saracens,  as  the  Moslems  used  to  be  called. 
To  understand  why  he  triumphed  in  Arabia, 
is  to  understand  why  they  triumphed  in 
Europe,  in  Africa,  and  in  Asia.  The  bitter 
ness  of  our  souls  as  we  contemplated  the 
failure  of  the  Church  in  his  case — a  bitter 
ness  which  was  no  unworthy  passion — will 
be  felt  again  intensified  in  this  chapter,  as 
we  look  on  at  the  anti- Christian  forces,  the 
birth  of  which  she  did  not  prevent,  now 
sweeping  irresistibly  through  the  world. 


78        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

The  same  deep  pain  with  which  we  saw 
an  ideal  of  Mohammed  being  set  up 
beside  the  spiritual  ideal  of  Christ,  will 
disquiet  us  still  as  we  see  that  ideal 
faithfully  reproduced,  to  its  minutest  de 
tails,  all  the  way  down  the  centuries  of 
history  which  we  must  now  track.  The 
kingdom  of  this  world,  of  which  he 
dreamed,  was  set  up,  and  the  methods 
which  he  sanctioned — with  all  their  admir 
able,  all  their  contaminating  features — were 
with  enthusiasm  adopted  and  employed. 

We  have  already  taken  two  immense 
journeys,  one  in  space,  the  other  in  time. 
In  this  chapter  we  shall  travel  both  in 
space  and  in  time,  as  we  trace  the  history  of 
the  spread  of  Islam  from  the  death  of  the 
Prophet,  to  the  twentieth  century  of  our 
era.  In  so  doing  we  shall  get  a  tremendous 
lesson  in  missionary  methods,  those  which 
the  Church  might  itch  to  use — yet  must 
leave  alone;  and  that  one  which  often 
seems  very  weakness — yet  alone  can  avail. 
Situation  at  What  was  the  situation  at  the  death  of 

death  of  tne  pr0phet  of  Arabia  ?     In  Medina  there 

Prophet,  AD.  r 

633.  were  a  large  number  ot  men,  led  by  be 

lievers  of  unquestioned  sincerity  like  Abu 
Bakr  and  Omar,  who  believed  passionately 


How  Came  It  ?  79 

that  the  One,  Almighty  God,  had  revealed 
His  truth  to  Mohammed  ;  that  the  Word 
given  to  and  through  Mohammed  was  the 
Word  of  God ;  and  that  the  remainder  of 
their  lives  could  only  be  occupied  with  one 
thing,  the  carrying  out  of  the  Will  of  God 
as  interpreted  by  His  Prophet. 

Such  was  the  intense  conviction  of  the 
inner  circle  of  Islam.  Beyond  them  there 
was  circle  after  circle  of  believers  and  ad 
herents  whose  faith  and  devotion  varied 
very  considerably,  down  to  zero  in  the 
case  of  the  Arabian  tribes  whose  "  con 
version  "  had  been  virtually  by  pure  force, 
in  terror  of  Mohammed's  last  decree, — 
which  was,  in  effect,  a  time-limit  for  those 
tribes,  and,  thereafter, — No  Compromise. 
These  outer  circles  required,  in  various 
degree,  many  other  stimuli  of  a  palpable 
order  before  they  became  part  of  the  mis 
sionary  army  of  Islam.  The  driving-power 
was  in  Abu  Bakr  and  the  real  zealots  ; 
yet  but  for  the  enormous  majority,  whose 
zeal  required  much  and  constant  material 
stimulus,  Islam  could  never  have  advanced 
beyond  Arabia.  Even  in  the  case  of  the 
believing  inner  circle  it  is  no  more  possible 
quite  to  disentangle  the  spiritual  and  the 


8o        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

carnal  strands  than  we  found  it  to  be  in 
the  case  of  the  Founder  himself.  With 
many,  the  attraction  of  the  wars  of  the 
Crescent  must  have  been  purely  the 
stupendous  material  advantages  which 
they  soon  held  out.  But  true  to  the  formal 
character  of  Islam  no  difference  was  made 
in  the  commendation  and  admiration 
meted  out  to  the  Moslem  soldiers.  Those 
who  struck  for  God  alone,  or  for  God  plus 
Paradise,  or  for  God  plus  Paradise  and 
plunder,  or  for  Paradise  and  plunder  with 
out  God,  or  for  plunder  pure  and  simple 
were  all  the  Blessed  of  the  Lord,  heroes 
and  saints,  and,  if  they  perished,  martyrs 
..  -  in  the  "  path  of  God,"  as  the  religious  war, 

or  Jihad,  was  called. 

Summary  of  For  purposes  of  clearness  we  may  name 

isPiam.  C  at  the  outset  the  three  main  movements 

of  Moslem  energy  and  aggression.  During 
the  Arab  Movement,  which  spread  from 
A.D.  632  to  800,  Islam  took  root  in  Persia, 
and  northwards  to  the  Aral  Sea ;  in  Syria ; 
in  North  Africa  and  Spain.  During  the 
Turkish  movement,  to  which  we  may  add 
the  Tartar  or  Mogul  movement  (A.D.  1080- 
1480),  the  influence  of  the  Prophet  was 
strengthened  and  extended  in  the  Turk- 


82        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

estans,  China,  India  and  beyond,  Asia  Minor, 
and  the  Balkans.  The  modern  movement, 
which  dates  from  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  is  one  of  the  great  world  move 
ments  of  our  own  day — in  negro  Africa 
Islam  is  still  spreading  with  a  rapidity 
which  makes  the  Dark  Continent  the  scene 
of  the  chief  battle-ground  between  Islam 
and  Christianity. 

I 

I.  The  Arab  To  go  back  to  the  time  of  the  Prophet's 
death.  Almost  at  once  the  greater  part 
of  Arabia  was  in  revolt.  The  first  Caliph, 
Abu  Bakr,  had  no  time  for  reflection  or 
discussion,  yet  he  saved  Islam.  By  a 
perfectly  magnificent  exhibition  of  fortitude, 
faith,  and  skill,  he  won  through  that  hour, 
the  darkest  Islam  has  ever  known.  For  at 
its  darkest,  he  refused  to  cancel  the  ex 
pedition  ordered  by  Mohammed  on  the 
Roman-Arab  tribes  on  the  Syrian  border, 
which  was  then  on  the  point  of  starting, 
though  it  denuded  him  of  almost  his  whole 
available  force.1  "  Uaudace,  messieurs.,  et 
toujours  Vaudace  "  was  Napoleon's  prescrip 
tion  for  the  production  of  a  conqueror, 

i  See  Chap.  II.,  p.  50. 


How  Came  It?  83 

and  well  was  that  prescription  justified 
in  this  case.  The  expedition  returned 
victorious,  and  the  moral  result  was  im 
mense.  The  Arabs  were  impressed  by  the 
stability  of  Moslem  rule ;  and  the  stunning 
blows  which  the  Moslem  "gospel  of  the 
mailed  fist "  had  speedily  given  them 
all  over  Arabia  quite  completed  the  proof 
to  their  genuine  satisfaction.  For  such 
events  are  a  real  argument  to  such  men. 
We  may  fall  into  an  unconscious  fallacy 
when  we  say  i4  Force  is  no  argument." 
In  the  highest  sense  this  is  true.  But  in 
the  middle  and  lower  spheres,  where  Islamic 
thought  habitually  moves,  it  is  not  true. 
To  the  Arabian  Bedouin,  force  was  a  very 
real,  solid,  and  true  argument.  He  reasoned 
that  if  these  men  could  twice  bring  him  to 
heel  they  must  be  right  and  he  wrong. 
Their  Allah  must  be  indeed  the  God,  and 
his  gods,  who  had  failed  to  vindicate  their 
own  honour,  should  be  abandoned.  Hence 
forth  with  absolute  sincerity  he  shouted 
for  Allah  with  the  best  of  the  Moslems. 

Meanwhile  Abu  Bakr's    stalwarts   have  war  with 
been    re- subjugating    the    Arabs     of     the  ByS5Snc 
Peninsula.     And  now  the   work  is   done  ;  EmPires. 
the  dogs  of  war  are  straining  at  the  leash ; 


84        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

they  are  unloosed  ;  with  what  fury  do  they 
set  about  their  work  !  No  formal  declara 
tions  of  war  were  needed.  That  came  quite 
naturally.  The  tribes  on  the  Arabian  side 
of  the  border  were  in  a  state  of  violent, 
warlike  agitation,  one  quite  congenial  to 
them,  and  collisions  with  the  Arabian 
tribes  on  the  Roman  l  and  Persian  side  of 
the  marches  were  inevitable.  Fighting 
began :  the  subject  tribes  of  Constanti 
nople  and  Persia  were  of  course  supported 
by  their  suzerains — the  Roman  Emperor 
Heraclius  had  already  two  scores  to  settle 
against  the  Arabs — and  the  Moslems  in 
two  seething  streams  crossed  the  marches 
and  hurled  themselves  on  the  two  Empires 
that  between  them  controlled  the  East. 
Filled  with  burning,  furious  zeal  for  Allah 
and  Paradise,  and  intoxicated  with  the 
hope  of  spoil  and  that  hope's  dazzling  ful 
filment,  they  flung  themselves  on  the 
Persian  and  the  Grseco-Roman  armies. 
The  numbers  in  these  armies  could  not 
make  up  for  the  fact  that  they  were 
slaves  dressed  as  soldiers.  Their  religion, 
paralysed  by  its  unspirituality,  and  made 
futile  by  its  factiousness,  failed  them 

1  Eastern  or  Byzantine  Roman  Empire. 


How  Came  It?  85 

against  men  possessed  at  least  with 
a  faith  in  living  and  irresistible  deity. 
One  great  battle  at  Wacusa  on  the  Fail  of  Syria. 
Yermuk  (634),  and  the  power  of  Constan 
tinople  in  Syria  went  with  a  crash,  as 
horrible  as  that  of  the  living  bodies  which, 
penned  by  the  Moslems  from  behind,  went 
helplessly  over  the  precipices  on  that  awful 
field,  crashing  whole  companies  at  once  to 
the  bottom  of  the  gorge  beneath.  The 
Byzantine  Empire  retired  to  Asia  Minor 
after  the  loss  of  Syria,  and  there  held  a 
precarious  frontier  against  the  Moslem 
East.  Later  on  it  could  even  retire  from 
Asia,  and  maintain  an  isolated  existence 
in  Constantinople.  Thus  it  was  not  for 
eight  hundred  years  that  the  Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  completed 
by  the  fall  of  its  last  fragment,  the  city  of 
Constantine  itself  (1453). 

At  the  battle  of  Kadesiya  (635)  the  back-  Fall  of  Persia. 
bone  of  the  Persian  resistance  was  broken, 
and  the  capital,  Medain,  taken.  Eight 
more  years  of  hard  campaigning,  and  the 
whole  of  Persia  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Moslems  ; — once  the  heart  of  the  Empire 
was  touched,  it  collapsed  with  a  crash 
owing  to  its  excessive  centralisation. 


86        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

And  so,  in  only  eleven  years  after  the 
prophet's  death,  the  Moslems  had  utterly 
vanquished  the  two  great  Empires  of  the 
seventh  century  world,  and  were  adminis 
tering  all  Persia  and  all  Roman  Syria  with 

Egypt.  Palestine — nay,    Egypt    also,   for    in    640 

the  Moslems  were  made  masters  of  Egypt, 
as  much  by  the  shameful  reciprocal  ani 
mosity  of  the  two  great  Christian  sects 
there,  as  by  the  force  of  their  own  arms. 
Amru,  the  son  of  El  As,  pitched  his  tent 
near  the  spot  where  El  Kahira  (Cairo)  was 
afterwards  to  rise,  and  the  Christian  rule 
in  Egypt  was  at  an  end.  And  that  first 
decade  was  the  merest  beginning.  West 
wards  and  eastwards  rolled  the  lava- 
streams  from  the  ceaselessly  active  crater 

N.  Africa.  of  Arabia.  Westwards,  over  Barca,  Tripoli, 
Tunis,  Algeria,  Morocco  (to  use  their 
modern  names),  and  barely  thirty  years 
after  the  Founder's  death,  Akbar  was 
furiously  spurring  his  horse  into  the 
Atlantic  rollers  (what  a  subject  for  a 
picture  !)  with  the  same  intoxicated  im 
pulse  for  Westward  Ho  !  in  which  he 
anticipates  the  heroes  of  nine  centuries 
later.1 

1  G/:  p.  94. 


How  Came  It?  87 

The  Atlantic  alone  resisted  the  Moslem  Spain, 
charge.  But  it  could  not  arrest  it ;  it 
did  but  divert  it.  The  Straits  of  Gib 
raltar  were  crossed,  and  Andalusian  Spain 
was  entered.  By^/the  end  of  the  first 
century  of  Islam  the  whole  of  Spain  was 
subjugated,  and  the  South  of  France 
boldly  penetrated.  The  victory  of  Charles 
Martel  at  Tours  in  732,  exactly  one  hundred 
years  after  Mohammed's  death,  was  the 
first  sign  that  God's  Destroying  Angel 
was  staying  his  sword  over  those  western 
Christian  lands.  The  Moslems  were  hurled 
back  from  France,  but  for  many  centuries 
Spain  was  still  theirs.  Europe  had  an 
other  narrow  escape  in  the  next  century : 
in  846  Rome  "  was  partially  sacked  by  the 
Moslems  and  only  saved  by  the  bravery 
of  Leo  IV."  Crete  was  occupied  in  823, 
Sicily  in  878.  The  Moslem  grip  on  South 
Italy  was  not  relaxed  till  the  eleventh 
century. 

Meanwhile,  eastwards,  the  never-ceasing  Asia, 
waves  of  conquest  were  rolling  on  over 
the  province  of  Khorasan  (Northern 
Persia)  to  the  Caspian,  and  as  far  as  the 
Oxus  itself  ;  and  by  the  end  of  the  century 
they  were  even  crossing  the  Oxus.  The 


88        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Turkestan.  great  cities  of  Balkh  (c.  705),  Bokhara 
(c.  709),  and  Samarkand  (c.  712)—  Christian 
cities  !  —  fell  to  them  ;  and  their  territory 
was  with  difficulty  subdued  and  settled. 
The  district  now  known  as  Turkestan  has 
thus  been  invaded,  and  the  Moslem  general, 
Kutaiba,  is  reaching  to  the  very  furthest 
confine  of  Alexander's  old  Empire.  By  the 
year  714,  he  is  even  said  to  have  advanced 
through  Eastern  Turkestan  (now  "  Chinese 
Turkestan  "  in  the  maps),  to  Turf  an  on  the 
very  borders  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  "  im 
posing  Islam  as  he  went." 

China.  In  755  China  proper  was  reached,1    for 

there  was  a  regular  trade  route  through 
Central  Asia  between  China  and  Turkestan. 
The  Caliph  had  sent  four  thousand  troops 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Emperor  against 
his  own  commander-in-  chief,  and  when  their 
work  was  done,  these  soldiers  were  settled 
in  Yun-nan  as  a  reward  for  their  services. 
There  by  intermarriage  and  preaching  they 
won  many  to  the  faith.  Yet  even  before 
this,  even  in  the  lifetime  of  the  Prophet,  a 
Moslem  enthusiast,  using  the  regular  sea- 
route  between  Araby  and  China,  had 


To-day." 


Chap.  XVI.   in    "The   Mohammedan  World  of 


ANCIENT    VALLEY    OF    VERMUK,    NEAR    WACUSA 
MODERN    PART    OF    NEW    LINE  —  HEJAZ,    ARABIA 


VALLEY    OF    YERMUK.       SCENE    OF    BATTLE    OF    WACUSA 


How  Came  It?  89 

preached  in  Canton,  apparently  with  suc 
cess  !  The  Chinese  Mohammedans  them 
selves  speak  of  an  uncle  of  the  Prophet, 
who  was  received  as  envoy  at  the  Chinese 
court  in  628. 

Thus  the  interior  of  Asia,  with  its 
Turanian,  i.e.  Turkish,  Tartar,  and  Mongol, 
races  had  been  decisively  reached.  And 
the  commingling  of  Arab  with  Turkish 
blood  that  then  ensued  was  to  have  results 
of  vastest  importance,  reaching  down  to  our 
own  day,  as  we  shall  see  immediately. 

When  we  add  (to  complete  the  picture  Asia  Minor, 
of  that  first  resistless  onrush)  that  Cyprus 
fell  in  648,  Rhodes  in  653,  and  that  Moslem 
armies  pushed  through  Asia  Minor  to  the 
gates  of  Constantinople  itself,  which  was 
twice  besieged,  in  668  and  716,  enough  has 
been  said  to  indicate  with  sufficient  clear 
ness  both  the  extent  and  the  intense 
momentum  of  this  first  Moslem  period. 

And  now  in  the  lull  of  the  tenth  century,  Causes  of 
ere  the  Turks  take  the  Sword  of  Islam  from  success, 
the   now   palsied   Arab    hand,    and    while 
Europe  is  still  maturing  the  mighty  forces 
that  are  presently  to  produce  the  Crusades, 
and  later  on  the  nations  of  to-day,  let  us 
pause  and  set  ourselves  with  earnestness  to 


90        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

study  the  causes  which  led  to  these  Moslem 
successes.  The  more  truthful  our  enquiry, 
the  more  fruitful  it  will  be  in  suggestive- 
ness  and  in  result. 

(i)  Religions:         (1)  No   answer  is  worth  anything  that 
Zeal  for  God.     ^oes   nQ.j.   take    -^   account  ^   burning 

enthusiasm  which  their  new  faith  gave 
these  sons  of  the  desert.  It  had  suddenly 
made  them  feel  that  they  were  a  nation, 
and  more,  that  they  were  God's  chosen 
nation.  "  The  Sword !  "  cries  Carlyle  .  .  . 
"  that  he  take  a  sword,  and  try  to  propagate 
with  that,  will  do  little  for  him.  You  must 
first  get  your  sword !  "  And  where  did 
Mohammed  get  his  sword  ?  We  tried  to 
arrive  at  a  just  answer  to  this  question  in 
the  last  chapter,  and  that  answer  is,  to  a 
large  extent,  the  answer  to  the  further 
question,  "  Where  did  the  Moslem  get  his 
Sword  ?  "  The  primary  impulse,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  founder,  so  in  that  of  his 
followers,  was  given  by  a  zeal  for  living 
Deity,  which  indeed  varied  in  degrees  of 
purity  very  greatly,  but  nevertheless  was 
alive,  and  was  kinetic  in  those  Moslem 
armies.  After  the  first  momentum  had 
been  acquired,  all  sorts  of  secondary,  and 
very  material,  motives  were  found  neces- 


How  Came  It?  91 

sary  to  sustain  it.  But  even  this  does  not 
alter  the  fact  that  at  the  headquarters  at 
Medina,  for  the  years  during  the  reigns  of 
Abu  Bakr  and  Omar,  the  first  two  Caliphs, 
the  warlike  operations  were  directed  with  a 
self-devotion,  an  uncorrupt  sense  of  duty 
and  responsibility,  a  simple  enthusiasm, 
that  can  only  be  compared  with  those  of 
a  Cromwell.  And  there  were  many  in 
the  armies  at  the  front  of  the  same  moral 
calibre  as  these  Ironsides  of  Islam  at  head 
quarters. 

(2)  But  however  purely  burned  a  zeal  (2)  Political 
for  God  and  His  cause  in  the  breasts  of 
these  Moslems,  it  never  lacked  powerful 
reinforcements  of  a  very  concrete  nature. 
The  Prophet  had  given  a  law  by  which  the 
spoil  was  distributed  to  those  who  shared" 
in  his  expeditions  :  and  the  Arab,  who  in 
becoming  a  Moslem  emphatically  remained 
an  Arab,  was  touched  by  Mohammed's 
practice  at  his  most  responsive  point. 
The  Arab  passion  for  war,  wine,  spoil,  and 
women  was  only  limited  by  his  new  religious 
principles  in  regard  to  the  second  of  these 
particulars,  and  the  absolutely  unlimited 
extension,  nay,  holy  sanction,  which  those 
principles  now  gave  to  his  righteous  indulg- 


92        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

ence  in  the  other  three,  bound  him  hand 
and  soul  to  the  Cause  in  this  life  :  while,  in 
case  of  his  life  being  forfeited,  rewards  of  an 
exactly  similar  character,  infinitely  intensi 
fied,  were  promised  him  in  the  next  world. 
In  the  time  of  the  Prophet  the  appetite 
for  spoil  had  been  thoroughly  whetted. 
In  the  war  with  the  apostates  after  his 
death  it  was  well  seen  that  the  Prophet's 
admirable  arrangements  were  to  be  carried 
on.  And  so  from  the  very  first  the  in 
vading  armies  had  the  intoxicating  hope 
of  spoils  that  were  larger  and  richer  by 
just  so  much  as  Rome  and  Persia  were 
richer  than  Arabia.  How  that  intoxication 
worked,  the  annals  of  the  Early  Caliphate 
show  most  faithfully.  Mothanna,  when 
haranguing  his  troops  at  the  very  outset 
of  the  Persian  campaign,  and  in  the  very 
first  flush  of  religious  enthusiasm,  says 
much  of  plunder,  captives,  concubines,  for 
feit  lands,  but  not  one  word  about  Islam, 
God,  or  the  Faith.  The  very  first  victory 
over  a  Persian  army  revealed  to  the  trans 
ported  Moslems  a  booty  animate  and  in 
animate,  the  like  of  which  they  had  never 
even  dreamed  of  before.  The  fifth  was 
sent  to  Medina,  where,  like  the  spies' 


How  Came  It?  93 

grape-cluster,  it  gave  tangible  proof  of  what 
was  to  be  enjoyed  at  the  front,  with,  how 
ever,  a  very  much  more  stimulating  effect. 
And  as  the  armies  pushed  on,  and  the  de 
cisive  battles  with  Persia  were  fought,  and 
the  capital  Medain  was  taken,  the  armies 
beheld  riches  and  luxuries  and  delights 
that  their  most  sensuous  dreams  had  never 
imagined  before.  These  things  acted  as 
new  wine  to  the  Arabs.  God  was  indeed 
with  them !  Every  Arab  in  the  peninsula 
became  a  heart  and  soul  believer  in  the 
Prophet's  doctrine  of  the  Jihad — the  duty 
of  fighting  in  the  Path  of  God, — and  an 
enthusiastic  adherent  of  the  Caliph's 
home-and-foreign  political  theory,  which 
was  that  the  Arabs  should  be  the  fighting 
men  of  Islam,  holding  no  land  in  the 
conquered  countries,  but,  instead,  state- 
maintained  by  the  spoils  of  new  conquests, 
and  th'e  tribute  of  the  countries  whose  sub 
jugation  was  complete.  And  thus  Arabia 
was  converted  into  one  huge  depot  for 
breeding  and  training  soldiers ;  for  the 
unlimited  supply  of  female  slaves  swelling 
the  enormous  harems  of  these  Moslem 
lords  led  to  such  increments  of  population 
that  the  prodigious  wastage  of  life  in  the 


94        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

campaigns  was  easily  met  and  more  than 
met.  And  an  apparently  unending  flood 
of  soldier- Arabs  rolled  in,  wave  after  wave, 
from  the  breeding-ground  and  training- 
camp  of  the  peninsula,  to  share  in  the 
treasures  of  the  conquered  countries,  and 
to  find  new  homes  (never  a  difficult  thing 
nor  a  hardship  to  the  true  Arab)  in  lands 
unimaginably  richer  than  his  own.  Truly 
he  served  not  God  for  nought;  nor,  to  do 
him  justice,  did  he  ever  pretend  that  he 
did  so. 

Four  typical  exclamations  by  certain 
Mohammedan  soldiers  during  the  first  flush 
of  these  religious  wars,  when  motives  and 
impulses  were  at  their  best  and  most  char 
acteristic,  well  sum  up  for  us  the  secret  of 
Mohammedan  success  : — 

"  By  the  Great  God,  if  I  were  not  stopped 
by  this  raging  sea,  I  would  go  on  to  the 
nations  of  the  West,  preaching  the  Unity 
of  Thy  Name,  and  putting  to  the  sword 
those  that  would  not  submit."  (The  ex 
clamation  of  Akbar  as  he  urged  his  horse  into 
the  Atlantic  surf.) 

"  A  people  is  upon  thee  loving  death  as 
thou  lovest  life. ' '  ( Khalid's  splendid  message 
to  Hormuz  the  Persian  general.) 


How  Came  It?  95 

"  Were  it  but  as  a  provision  for  this 
present  life,  and  no  holy  war  to  wage,  it 
were  worth  our  while  to  fight  for  these  fair 
fields  and  banish  care  and  penury  for  ever  !  " 
(The  same  Khdlid's  address  to  his  troops.) 

"  0  Paradise  !  How  close  art  thou  be 
neath  the  arrow's  point  and  the  falchion's 
flash !  O  Hashim !  Even  now  I  see 
heaven  opened  and  black-eyed  maidens 
all  bridally  arrayed,  clasping  thee  in  their 
fond  embrace  !  "  (A  Moslem  soldier's  ex 
clamation  at  one  of  the  earliest  fights.) 

The  conduct  of  the  armies  in  those  Dealings  with 
"  missionary  campaigns  "  was  very  much 
according  to  the  custom  of  their  time 
and  country.  Smoking  homes,  plundered 
villages,  slaughter  and  blood,  rape  and 
rapine,  were  inseparable  concomitants  to  all 
campaigns,  and  for  the  matter  of  that,  save 
in  the  case  of  the  enslavement  and  forced 
concubinage  of  female  captives,  they  are 
still  inseparable.  In  all  these  things  the 
Moslems  were  neither  better  nor  worse 
than  their  day ;  indeed  the  offer  of  Islam 
to  the  conquered,  though  from  the  Christian 
point  of  view  an  iniquitous  way  of  making 
converts,  was  humane  in  its  intention  and 
its  effect,  for  it  imposed  a  definite  limit  to 


96        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  work  of  destruction.  Once  grant  that 
the  soldier  of  God  must  strike,  and  it  follows 
he  must  strike  hard  and  strike  often.  Even 
the  feature  of  the  concubinage  of  captive 
women,  vile  and  odious  though  it  is  to  us, 
seemed  to  the  Moslem  to  be  a  necessary 
and  humane  way  of  providing  a  home  for 
many  homeless  women.  Her  captor  be 
came  responsible  for  her,  and  if  she  bore  a 
son  she  became  ipso  facto  free.  These 
considerations  and  the  fact  that  by  this 
method  the  numbers  of  the  faithful  were 
at  the  same  time  increased,  probably  pre 
vented  a  single  Moslem  soldier,  however 
pious,  from  having  one  single  conscientious 
scruple  in  the  matter.  Yet  for  all  that  it 
was  a  demoralising  business.  Even  Moslem 
public  opinion  stirred  uneasily  at  the 
practice  of  Khalid,  their  bravest  general 
and  an  irreproachable  Moslem,1  in  actually 
wedding  a  captive  woman,  perhaps  the  wife 
of  a  foeman  slain  that  day — aye  or  not 
slain,  but  still  alive — on  the  stricken  field 
itself.  But  then,  had  not  their  prophet 
done  the  very  same  ?  What  of  Rihana, 
the  beautiful  Jewess,  taken  to  Mohammed's 
tent  on  the  very  night  of  the  slaughter, 

1  See  Muir's  "  Caliphate/'  Chap.  V,      > 


How  Came  It?  97 

she  with  face  yet  wet  for  a  husband  mas 
sacred  in  cold  blood,  he  with  soul  newly 
stained  by  the  blood  of  that  husband? 
No  wonder  that  Abu  Bakr's  feeble  remon 
strance  with  Khalid  failed  to  stop  him  from 
doing  the  very  same  thing  on  every  day 
of  victory,  and  it  is  characteristic  of  the 
strangely  mixed  character  of  Mohammedan 
ethics,  even  at  their  best,  that  it  has  pro 
bably  never  suggested  itself  to  a  single 
Moslem  down  to  the  present  hour  to  doubt 
the  acceptability  of  Khalid's  religion  before 
GOD. 

It  is  no  cause  for  wonder  that  Islam,  and  Methods  of 
the  methods  of  the  spread  of  Islam,  have 
excited  such  opposite  feelings  in  critics. 
Viewed  simply  from  the  historico- socio 
logical  standpoint,  the  character  and  acts  of 
Mohammed  and  his  successors  often  receive, 
and  naturally  receive,  a  relative  com 
mendation.  In  the  mediaeval  period  of  the 
Christian  evangelisation  of  Europe,  mis 
sionary  methods,  though  often  spiritual 
and  apostolic,  sometimes  appear  parallel 
to  most  of  the  Moslem  methods  which  we 
are  now  studying.  Yet  when  we  place 
them  side  by  side  with  the  acts  and 
methods  of  our  Lord  and  His  followers ; 


98        The  Reproach  of  Islam 

when  we  recall  the  picture  of  Paul,  the 
chaste,  the  brave,  that  Crusader  with  the 
Cross  on  heart  and  life ;  .  .  .  John,  the 
apostle  of  Love,  with  his  '  little  children ' ; 
.  .  .  the  glorious  fellowship  of  Apostles, 
the  goodly  company  of  Prophets,  the 
noble  army  of  Martyrs,  chaste  and  brave 
youths,  Christ- ennobled  and  Christ-beauti 
fied  maidens,  old  saints  and  child  saints, 
going  to  their  doom,  to  their  triumph  and 
the  triumph  of  the  Faith,  with  smile  on 
face,  and  hymn  on  lips :  when  we  recall 
these,  and  thousands  like  them,  right  down 
to  our  own  day,  and  see  all  down  the  ages, 
the  blood  of  saints  poured  forth — their  own 
blood,  not  the  blood  of  others  shed  by 
them  —  so  bringing  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  of  Christ  and  of  the  Spirit.  .  .  . 
Enough  !  Do  we  perhaps,  in  the  anguish 
of  this  comparison,  gain  some  glimpse  of 
what  Christ 1  saw  when  He  travailed  in 
temptation  on  that  lonely  mountain  peak, 
choosing  between  the  ways  by  which  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  might  be  gained 
for  GOD  ? 

(3)  This  political  side  of  the  question  has 
been  dwelt  on  at  some  length  because  of 

1  St  Matt.  iv. 


How  Came  It?  99 

its  great  importance  in  principle.  Closely 
related  to  it  is  another  aspect,  which  is  an 
essential  element  of  the  answer  to  the 
question,  "  Why  did  Islam  triumph  ?  r 
it  may  be  called  the  civil  aspect :  the  quiet 
yet  tremendous  pressure  Islam  brought  to 
bear  after  the  settlement  of  a  country  by 
the  mere  fact  of  its  being  a  settled  social 
system.  We  may  put  from  our  minds  once 
and  for  all  the  idea  that,  after  the  first 
bloody  work  was  done,— "  opening  the 
countries  "  they  call  it  in  the  East, — the 
sword  was  used  to  bring  about  forced  con 
versions.  Neither  the  law  nor  the  practice 
of  Islam  sanctioned  such  a  thing  : — when 
it  has  occurred,  it  has  been  the  work  of 
fanatics,  and  must  be  considered  excep 
tional.  The  Moslems  after  the  conquest 
relied  on  the  impression  already  made,  and 
on  the  general  pressure  exerted  by  the 
whole  system  they  immediately  set  up. 
For  between  the  method  of  actual  threats 
and  the  method  of  spiritual  conversion 
there  are  a  multitude  of  stages.  In  a 
multitude  of  ways  a  shrewd  pressure  may 
be  brought  to  bear  on  the  unbeliever. 
Whether  conversions  thus  effected  should 
be  called  "  forcible  "  depends  on  how  one 


ioo      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

interprets  the  word.  A  man  may,  appa 
rently  freely,  yield — because  it  is  so  very 
clearly  to  his  advantage  to  do  so. 

Tribute  levied  The  institutions  of  the  Moslems  were 
Chnstiansnd  characterised  by  a  very  large  measure  of 
good  sense  and  humanity,  and  justice  was 
frequently  well  administered.  Jews  and 
Christians  who  refused  to  become  Moslems 
paid  tribute,  and  received  in  return  the 
protection  of  the  Islamic  state.  So  popu 
lar  was  this  arrangement  that  Christian 
subjects  of  Islam  were  in  those  days  not 
infrequently  the  objects  of  envy,  and 
Moslem  rulers  frequently  received  appeals 
from  Christians  pleading  to  be  transferred 
from  Christian  rule  to  that  of  Islam  !  And 
although  the  diminution  of  the  number  of 
Christian  and  Jewish  tributaries  by  con 
version  involved  a  financial  loss  to  the 
state,  more  than  one  Moslem  ruler  showed 
a  genuine  religious  earnestness  by  refusing 
to  prefer  a  fat  revenue  to  the  salvation  of 
souls. 

Considerable  administrative  ability,  too, 
was  shown  by  many  Moslem  rulers, 
especially  at  first.  Again,  the  Arab,  being 
a  man  of  (great  attainments  and  culture 
on  his  own  lines,  and  proving  extraordin- 


How  Came  It?  101 

arily  teachable  and  receptive  in  mundane 
matters,  welcomed  the  teaching  which 
Greek  and  Persian  could  so  freely  give 
him  in  philosophy,  letters,  arts,  and  crafts ; 
and  the  indubitably  brilliant l  civilisation 
he  thus  created,  especially  at  Baghdad, 
Cairo,  and  Cordova,  at  a  time  when 
Christian  Europe  was  in  a  state  of  blank 
ignorance  and  darkness,  was  an  extra  in 
ducement  to  the  unbeliever  to  become 
even  as  the  Moslem  was. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  many  ways  Baser  Methods 
in  which  a  sterner  and  less  excusable of  Converslon- 
pressure  was  brought  to  bear  in  addition 
to  the  eternal  bribe  of  the  tremendous 
social  and  political  advantages  offered  by 
submission  to  Islam.  The  fierce  contempt 
felt  and  shown  by  the  Moslems  ;  the  treat 
ment  of  Christians  as  utter  inferiors  ;  the 
vexatious  and  humiliating  conditions  often 
imposed  on  them,  increasing  more  and 
more  as  time  went  on ; 2  the  laxity  and  the 
carnal  character  of  its  marriage  and  divorce 
systems,  and  its  divine  sanction  of  concu 
binage,  these  are  considerations  that  have 

1  Of.   "  Religion   of  the  Crescent/'    St  Clair  Tisdall, 
with  Muir's  "  Caliphate/'  p.  504,  and  Arnold's  "  Spread 
of  Islam,"  pp.  120,  200-206. 

2  See  Muir's  "  Caliphate/'  p.  147. 


102      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

undoubtedly,  from  those  times  down  to  the 
present  day,  influenced  the  majority  of 
men  to  accept  Islam,  carried  away  by  a 
social  current  the  force  of  which  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  resist.  The  mass  of 
the  populations  of  Persia,  Asia  Minor, 
Syria,  Egypt,  North  Africa,  and  Spain,  un 
doubtedly  in  this  way  slipped  over  the  line, 
quietly,  gradually,  and  in  the  mass.  The 
same  phenomena  may  be  seen  to  this  day. 
Islam  has  always  known  how  to  make 
it  easy  for  the  average  sensual  man  to  be 
"  converted,"  knowing  that  his  children  are 
sure  to  be  as  proud  and  bigoted  Moslems 
as  the  heart  could  wish.  The  most  illu 
minating  remark  the  writer  has  ever  had 
made  to  him  during  nine  years  in  the  East, 
was  in  a  conversation  between  himself  and 
an  English  Cabinet-minister  in  Cairo.  The 
latter  expressed  and  urged  his  conviction 
that  all  "  converts  "  were  hypocrites,  and 
were  induced  to  change  their  religion  by 
material  motives  only  : — really  to  change 
one's  religion  was  impossible.  Utterly 
astonished,  the  writer  reminded  him  of 
Christian  St  Paul,  Moslem  Abu  Bakr.  .  .  . 
The  minister  was  not  to  be  moved.  .  .  . 
"  No,"  he  said,  "  converts  are  not,  as  you 


How  Came  It?  103 

say,  the  sincerest  religionists,  though  they 
may  be  the  most  useful.  It  is  the  children 
of  these  men  who  are  sincere"  A  whole 
volume  of  commentary  on  the  Moslem 
advance  in  the  past,  of  Moslem  advance 
in  Africa  to-day,  is  packed  into  that  last 
sentence. 

And  then  again,  even  more  drastic 
methods  were  certainly  often  used.  A 
religion  which  punished  apostasy  with 
death,  and  never  allowed  proselytising  on 
the  part  of  the  other  side,  could  hardly  be 
called  "  free."  Bokhara  struggled  desper 
ately  against  the  new  faith ;  and  every 
Bokhari  was  compelled  to  share  his 
dwelling  with  a  Moslem  Arab,  and  those 
who  prayed  and  fasted  like  good  Moslems 
were  rewarded  with  money  !  Nor  was  this 
sort  of  thing  condemned  as  illegitimate ; 
nor  was  it  as  a  matter  of  fact  unique. 

(4)  Besides  the  benefits  which  the  Mos-  (4)  Social, 
lems  derived  from  their  skilful  use  of  these 
political  and  civil  weapons  in  propagating 
Islam,  there  was  a  potent  social  weapon. 

The  practice  of  polygamy  and  concu 
binage,  so  freely  practised  by  the  ruling 
race,  in  itself  led  to  a  great  transference 
of  the  balance  of  creeds.  It  mattered 


104      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

little  whether  those  mothers  Islamised  or 
remained  Christians,  their  children  were 
inevitably  Moslems. 

This  readiness  on  the  part  of  the  Moslem 
to  intermarry  with  whatsoever  race  he  con 
quered  or  dwelt  amongst  was,  as  it  still  is, 
the  most  potent  means  of  making  that  race 
Islamise.  And,  per  contra,  history  has 
shown  us,  that  where  a  ruling  race  will  not 
intermarry  with  its  subjects,  be  its  prestige 
what  it  may,  the  fact  of  its  being  the  ruler 
will  alienate  its  subjects  from  its  faith,  not 
attract  them  to  it. 
(5)  Survival  of  All  this  is  true.  And  yet  we  cannot 
shirk  a  last  consideration,  in  which  the 
blame  turns  home  upon  ourselves.  The 
Survival  of  the  Fittest  is  a  principle  that 
has  a  more  than  merely  biological  bearing. 
And  in  GOD'S  mysterious  counsels  it  would 
seem  that  religious  privilege,  however 
sacred,  is  not  exempt  from  its  working. 
Islam  survived  because  Persian  and  Byzan 
tine  rule  was  unfit,  and  because  the  salt  of 
the  latter 's  Christianity  had  lost  its  savour. 

Take  Egypt  as  an  example — any  single 
country  concerned  might  serve  equally  well. 
In  the  seventh  century,  Christianity  had 
little  hold  on  the  masses  of  the  people. 


MOSQUE    OF    OMAR,    JERUSALEM 


MOSQUE    OF    OMAR,,    JERUSALEM 

Showing  the  Stone  on  which  Mahommedans  say  Abraham  offered  Ishmael 


How  Came  It?  105 

Their  leaders  made  use  of  theological  catch 
words  to  stir  them  up  against  the  Byzantine 
government.  Among  the  Christians  there 
was  no  unity  and  no  real  exhibition  of 
the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  When  Amru  invaded 
Egypt  in  640,1  "  the  rapid  success  of  the 
Arab  invaders  was  largely  due  to  the 
welcome  they  received  from  the  native 
Christians,  who  hated  the  Byzantine 
rule,  not  only  for  its  oppressive  adminis 
tration,  but  also — and  chiefly — on  account 
of  the  bitterness  of  theological  rancour." 
Is  it  strange  that  when  the  Moslems  came 
with  burning  zeal,  and  a  faith  summed  up 
in  the  simple  truth  of  the  Unity  of  God, 
and  the  mission  of  His  Prophet  Mohammed, 
combined  with  other  advantages,  many 
Christians  turned  in  utter  perplexity  and 
weariness  from  the  controversies  and  mis 
rule  around  them,  and  embraced  the 
Moslem  faith  ? 

II 

The   second   great   period   of   expansion  n.  Turkish 
may  be  called  the  Turkish  period,  as  the  MOV^S! 
first  was  the  Arab.     It  began  when,  in  the  I05o-i48o. 
eleventh    century,    or   the   fifth   after   the 

1  Arnold's  "  Preaching  of  Islam." 


io6      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Higra,  the  Turks  from  Central  Asia  took 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Moslem  world  from 
the  Abbaside  Caliphs  of  Baghdad  (Arabs 
by  descent) ;  and  Islam  spread  northwards 
towards  Russia  and  Siberia,  westwards 
through  Asia  Minor  to  Constantinople  and 
the  Danube,  and  eastwards  to  China  and 
India  and  the  East  Indies,  as  a  direct  or 
indirect  consequence  of  that  event. 
Caliph's  During  the  Arab  period  the  seat  of  the 

Bodyguard.  Caliphate  had  been  in  turn  Medina,  Damas 
cus,  Baghdad.  The  growing  weakness  of 
the  Abbaside  Caliphate  at  Baghdad  led  to 
its  taking  a  step  of  great  moment  and  sig 
nificance.  It  formed  a  bodyguard  of  Turks 
from  the  marches  of  Turkestan,  where  the 
outposts  of  Islam  were.  These  men,  who 
had  no  religion  of  their  own,  adopted  their 
masters'  religion  like  an  army-order,1  and 
became  Moslems  of  a  stiff,  unreasoning 
order.  Meanwhile  the  Islamising  of  Tur 
kestan  was  going  on,  from  Bokhara  as  a 
centre  ;  and  thus  it  happened  that  when 
in  the  eleventh  century  a  tribe  of  Turks, 
called  Seljook,  which  had  accepted  Islam, 
came  South,  crossing  Transoxiana  and 
Khorasan,  it  found  men  of  its  own  race, 

1  Vambery. 


How  Came  It?  107 

language,  and  religion,  ruling  the  Rulers  of 
Islam.  The  time  had  therefore  now  come 
for  a  transference  of  the  leadership  of 
Islam  from  the  Arab  race  to  the  Turanian. 
The  former  was  now  effete — even  its  own 
almost  unlimited  vitality  had  been  bled 
white  by  the  extraordinary  calls  made 
upon  it.  But  the  Turks  were  a  young  and 
vigorous  people.  The  Turkish  "  Sultans  " 
(for  so  the  monarchs  were  called  who  ruled 
in  practical  independence  of  the  Caliph) 
became  from  1050  the  de  facto  rulers  of 
the  Moslem  kingdoms,  from  Egypt  to 
Turkestan.  And  so  the  second  period  of 
expansion  began. 

Westwards  the  Turkish  Moslems  com-  Asia  Minor, 
pleted  the  Islamising  of  Asia  Minor.  It 
was  they  who,  under  the  Circassian  Saladin 
(Salah  ed  Din)  fought  the  Christians  in  the 
crusades,  and  spread  the  fame  of  the 
"  Saracens  "  or  "  Paynims  "  throughout 
Europe.  Then,  as  the  Seljook  Sultans  also 
weakened,  like  the  Arab  Caliphs  before 
them,  another  tribe  or  family  of  Turks, 
the  Ottomans,  gave  fresh  life  to  Islam; 
they  organised  and  led  the  wars  in  which 
the  Crescent  was  carried  over  into  south-  S.E.  Europe, 
east  Europe.  Thrace,  Bulgaria,  Wallachia, 


io8      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Servia  were  rapidly  and  thoroughly  con 
quered.  Greece  became  a  Turkish  province ; 
and  finally  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire 
— by  that  time  miserably  shrunk  to  the 
territory  immediately  round  its  capital- 
was  extinguished,  when,  in  1453,  Constan 
tinople  fell  with  a  crash  that  shook  Europe. 
At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  Crescent  was 
to  conquer  Europe  altogether.  But  the 
armies  of  the  Turk  were  rolled  back  from 
Vienna  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
the  limit  of  Islam  in  Europe  was  settled. 
The  Greek  war  of  independence  began  the 
backward  wash  which  continued  all  through 
the  nineteenth  century ;  the  Treaty  of  Berlin 
declared  the  independence  of  the  Balkan 
States  ;  and  to-day  we  have  been  watching 
what  may  involve  the  yet  further  curtail 
ment  of  Turkish  power  in  Europe. 
Afghanistan,  Eastwards,  other  Turks,  just  before  the 

Baluchistan,         ^   T       i  --IT-II  ,•  -n 

India.  beljook    period,    had    been    active,     ironi 

Bokhara  as  a  centre  Afghanistan  and 
Baluchistan  had  been  Islamised,  and  now 
the  famous  or  notorious  Sultan,  Mahmud 
of  Ghazni,  invaded  India  with  a  ferocious 
host.  The  connection  of  Islam  with  India 
has  been  as  violent  and  bloody  as  its  con 
nection  with  China  has  been  quiet  and 


How  Came  It  ?  109 

peaceable.  Before  the  eleventh  century, 
violent  and  destructive  expeditions  had 
taken  place  and  forced  conversions  had  been 
made.  Mahmud's  expedition  (1019  A.D.) 
was  one  of  naked  conquest,  murder,  and 
robbery.  After  two  centuries,  when  Delhi 
became  the  Moslem  capital  (1206),  a  second 
Sultanate  was  formed  in  Bengal  and  Behar 
by  Bakhtiyar  Khan  (1206-1288).  The 
later  invasion  of  Timur  (Timerlane)  with 
his  Mongols  (Moguls)  was  unspeakably  cruel 
and  bloody.  Then  was  founded  the 
brilliant  Mogul  empire  (1525-1707),  with 
the  well-known  names  among  others  of 
Akbar  and  Aurungzeb.  To  say  that  Islam's 
success  here  also  is  not  primarily  owed  to 
the  sword  is  to  say  what  is  a  lie.  Yet  even 
in  these  extreme  cases  the  initial  violence  for 
the  most  part  only  gave  Islam  its  start — a 
good  one,  it  must  be  allowed.  After  that, 
the  same  political,  social,  and  civil  influences 
that  we  have  already  mentioned  got  to  work 
as  usual,  with  the  usual  results.  In  Bengal, 
where  there  was  little  violence,  there  are 
25,000,000  Moslems.  In  South  India,  where 
there  was  none  at  all,  and  where  legitimate 
preaching  has  been  the  means  used,  there 
are  4,200,000.  For  a  long  time  past 


no      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Islam  has  progressed  in  India  by  its  preach 
ing,  its  social  advantages,  and  its  prestige. 
There  are  now  63,000,000  Moslems  in  the 
Indian  Empire, — more  than  one-fifth  of  the 
whole  population. 

How  Islam  won  In  Chapter  I.  we  gazed  with  surprise  on 
the  Mongols.  ^Q  spectacle  of  a  generally  predominant 
Islam  from  Persia  to  Siberia  northwards, 
forming  a  great  wedge  with  its  apex  about 
Tobolsk  in  Russian  Siberia.  This  fact  is 
connected  with  a  series  of  events  in  which 
Islam  is  seen  perhaps  at  its  very  highest 
advantage,  and  its  victory  appears  to  be  most 
legitimate.  These  events  were,  the  appalling 
deluge  of  Mongol  barbarism  overwhelming 
Islam,  which  in  the  thirteenth  century  swept 
from  North  Central  Asia,  under  that 
tremendous  personage  Jenghiz  Khan,  over 
Turco-Arabian  Islam  ;  the  rising  again  of 
Islam  from  its  own  ashes  ;  and  its  leading 
captivity  captive  when  in  the  hour  of  its 
prostration  it  actually  won  over  the  heathen 
Mongol  conquerors  now  settled  in  Persia,  in 
Turkestan,  in  Eastern  and  Southern  Russia, 
in  Western  Siberia. 

It  is  worth  while  to  realise  what  took 
place.    "  No  event1  in  the  history  of  Islam 

1  Arnold,  p.  185. 


How  Came  It?  in 

...  for  terror  and  desolation  can  be  com 
pared  to  the  Mongol  conquest.  Like  an 
avalanche,  the  hosts  of  Jenghiz  Khan  swept 
over  the  centres  of  Moslem  culture  and 
civilisation,  leaving  behind  them  bare 
deserts  and  shapeless  ruins  where  before 
had  stood  the  palaces  of  stately  cities,  girt 
about  with  gardens  and  fruitful  corn-land. 
When  the  Mongol  army  had  marched  out 
of  the  city  of  Herat,  a  miserable  remnant 
of  forty  persons  crept  out  of  their  hiding- 
places,  and  gazed  horror-stricken  on  the 
ruins  of  their  beautiful  city, — all  that  was 
left  out  of  a  population  of  over  one  hundred 
thousand.  In  Bokhara,  so  famed  for  its 
men  of  piety  and  learning,  the  Mongols 
stabled  their  horses  in  the  sacred  precincts 
of  the  mosques,  and  tore  up  the  Korans  to 
serve  as  litter  ;  those  of  the  inhabitants 
who  were  not  butchered  were  carried  away 
into  captivity,  and  their  city  reduced  to 
ashes.  Such,  too,  w^as  the  fate  of  Samar 
kand,  Balkh,  and  many  another  city  of 
Central  Asia  .  .  .  such,  too,  the  fate  of 
Baghdad.  .  .  ."  Here  we  have  the  re 
verse  of  what  we  have  seen  up  to  now  ; 
we  have  Islam  in  its  hour  of  utter  weak 
ness,  nay,  well-nigh  of  annihilation,  com- 


ii2       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

mending  itself  to  a  barbarous  bloodthirsty 
nation,  and  winning  its  own  conquerors. 
There  is  scanty  record  of  how  these  Mongol 
hordes  were  won  to  the  Moslem  faith,  but 
in  the  main  it  was  through  the  devotion 
of  its  followers.  The  method  usually  was 
to  begin  from  the  top  ; — a  Khan  or  Chief 
would  be  converted,  and  his  people  would 
as  a  rule  follow  suit  as  a  matter  of  course. 
We  are  here  reminded  of  the  conversion  of 
the  Saxons  of  Kent. 

So  the  Mongols  were  won.  Nor  are 
elements  of  shame  wanting  here  also  to 
us  Christians,  for  Nestorian  Christianity 
was  found  right  across  Central  Asia  as 
far  as  the  north  of  China ;  Christians 
had,  moreover,  at  first  enjoyed  privilege, 
prestige,  and  favour  with  the  Mongol 
Khans,  while  Islam  was  looked  on  with 
suspicion  and  severely  persecuted.  From 
every  point  of  view,  then,  Christianity  had 
the  best  chance  of  winning  the  Mongols 
and  all  Central  Asia, — and  lost  it.  Islam, 
Buddhism,  and  Christianity  were  the  rivals 
in  the  contest  for  Central  Asia.  Buddhism 
held  Tibet,  and  Islam  won  the  rest.  And 
had  not  Russia  set  up  the  bulwark  of  the 
Greek  Church  in  Northern  Central  Asia  and 


How  Came  It?  113 

Siberia,  the  whole  of  the  Continent  round  Siberia, 
to  China  would  probably  have  fallen  to 
Islam.  In  Turkestan  and  Russian  Asia, 
none  can  say  that  the  sword  played  the 
sole  part  in  conversion,  though  Russian  his 
torians  draw  a  picture  of  two  centuries  of 
Moslem  misrule.  We  hear  of  one  prisoner- 
of-war,  who  by  his  preaching  "  converted 
thousands."  Here,  too,  a  king  or  chief 
would  be  converted,  and  his  subjects 
would  follow  his  example. 

In  China,  the  Mongol  upheaval  had  im-  china, 
portant  bearing  on  the  future  of  Islam  in 
that  country.  An  enormous  and  varied 
immigration  of  Moslem  traders,  artisans, 
soldiers,  and  colonists  took  place,  follow 
ing  on  Jenghiz  Khan's  and  Kubla  Khan's 
Chinese  conquests.  These  Moslems  inter 
married  with  Chinese  women.  And  since 
then  they  have  been  careful  to  attract  as 
little  attention  as  possible ;  they  abandon 
all  distinction  of  dress  and  language  ;  they 
adopt  "  countless  "  children  orphaned  at 
times  by  famine  or  other  disaster.  Thus 
their  numbers  have  reached  some  twenty 
millions.  Their  very  unobtrusiveness  is 
their  chief  strength.  And  although  their 
zeal  and  ability  in  the  matter  of  proselytism 


ii4      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

are  open  to  some  doubt,  yet  they  constitute 
a  problem  and  a  possible  danger  that  can 
not  for  a  moment  be  ignored.1 

East  indies.  The  history  of  the  spread  of  Islam  in  the 

East  Indies  is  another  instance  where  it 
has  taken  place  in  the  main  peaceably,  by 
preaching  or  under  the  influence  of  its 
social  prestige.  The  whole  or  part  con 
version  of  Sumatra,  Java,  the  Moluccas, 
the  Spice  Islands,  Celebes,  and  Borneo  began 
in  1507,  and  has  been  continued  on  to  our 
own  day  ;  so  that  it  properly  falls  outside 
our  Second  Period.  Force  has  sometimes 
been  called  in  as  an  auxiliary,  but  far  the 
greatest  proportion  of  the  work  has  been 
done  by  merchants  and  Malay  pilgrims 
who  have  returned  from  Mecca.  The  fol 
lowing  account  is  admittedly  typical : 
"  The  better  to  introduce  their  religion, 
these  Mohammedan  traders  adopted  the 
language  of  the  people  and  many  of  their 
customs  ;  married  their  women,  purchased 
slaves  so  as  to  increase  their  personal  im 
portance,  and  succeeded  finally  in  being 
reckoned  among  the  foremost  chiefs  in  the 

1  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr  H.  F.  Ridley  of  the 
C.I.M.  for  a  careful  and  authoritative  criticism  of  the 
statements  of  Walshe  and  Arnold,  both  as  to  the  numbers 
of  Islam  in  China,  and  its  proselytising1  ideals  and  powers. 


n6      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

state."  Christianity  has  only  its  own  un 
faithfulness  and  miserable  want  of  zeal 
to  thank  for  these  things.  The  King  of 
Celebes,  for  example,  desired  to  choose 
between  the  two  religions,  after  instruction 
in  each.  The  missionaries  from  Mecca, 
however,  arrived  sooner  than  the  Jesuits 
from  Portugal,  and  that  king  and  his 
people  became  Mohammedan. 

On  reviewing  this  second  period,  then, 
we  see  again  that  many  causes  account  for 
the  success  and  spread  of  Islam ; — successful 
conquests,  followed  by  the  setting  up  of  a 
political,  civil,  and  social  system  which  set 
a  very  strong  current  in  favour  of  Islam. 
In  China  the  most  important  apparent 
cause  was  the  intermarriage  of  numerous 
settlers  with  Chinese  women.  In  the  East 
Indies  it  was  also  intermarriage  and  the 
social  prestige  of  the  Moslem  merchants. 
But  in  all  these  cases,  and  especially  in  the 
case  of  the  conversion  of  the  Mongols,  the 
element  of  sheer  enthusiasm  for  Islam 
must  not  be  forgotten  for  a  moment. 

Ill 

Africa.  We  turn  lastly  to  Africa,  where  the  third 

period  of  the  Moslem  missionary  movement 


How  Came  It  ?  117 

is  chiefly  exemplified.  The  conquest  of 
Northern  Africa  in  the  first  period  has 
already  been  mentioned.  From  the  coast 
Islam  gradually  advanced  into  the  interior 
during  the  second  period.  The  conquest 
of  the  Sahara  presents  the  old  familiar 
features,  especially  the  argument  of  hard 
knocks  :—  "  The  success  that  attended  his 
(Abdallah  ibu  Yasin's,  a  pious  Moslem 
monk's)  warlike  expeditions  appeared  to 
the  tribes  of  the  Sahara  a  more  persuasive 
argument  than  all  his  preaching,  and  they 
very  soon  came  forward  voluntarily  to 
embrace  a  faith  that  had  secured  such 
brilliant  successes  to  the  arms  of  its  ad 
herents."  x 

From  the  Sahara,  still  southwards,  Islam 
spread  towards  the  Niger  and  the  Western 
Sudan,  making  very  many  converts  from 
among  the  negroes.  Little  is  known  about 
the  history  or  methods  of  these  first  con 
quests  (eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries). 
From  the  West,  Islam  then  spread  eastward 
and  met  another  stream  of  propagandism 
setting  from  Arabia  and  Egypt.  Thus 
the  Sudanese  states  from  the  borders  of 
Abyssinia  to  Timbuktu  and  Senegal  be- 

1  Arnold.,  "  Preaching  of  Islam,"  p.  201. 


n8      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

came  all  of  them  Moslem.     It  would  seem 
that  the  great  and  important  nation  of  the 
Hausas  accepted  Islam  at  this  time. 
Modern  Move-       And  this  brings  us  to  the  third  or  modern 

ment  in  Africa  i  •     i       p      i         •  •  i 

(i 750  to  present  epoch, — a  period  oi  about  a  century  and  a 
tlme)-  half.     A  great  deal  of  it  can  be  traced  to 

the  movement  in  Arabia  in  the  eighteenth 
century  started  by  Abdul  Wahhab.  In 
fluenced  by  his  doctrine,  a  certain  Sheikh, 
Othman,  son  of  Hodin,  returned  from  the 
pilgrimage  at  Mecca,  and  proceeded  to  start 
a  movement  for  the  reform  of  doctrine, 
ritual,  and  morality  among  his  people, 
the  Fulahs,  a  great  and  important  pastoral 
tribe,  living  in  settlements  all  over  the 
Sudan.  But  his  pietism,  like  his  Prophet's, 
had  no  scruple  against  handling  a  sharp 
sword.  The  Fulahs,  under  his  leadership, 
became  one  of  the  most  terrible  fighting 
forces  in  the  history  of  Islam.  Othman 
sent  letters  to  all  the  tribes  around  threaten 
ing  chastisement  if  they  did  not  submit  to 
Islam.  Nor  was  the  threat  idle.  "  The  con 
quering  Fulahs  spread  southwards  and  west 
wards,  laying  waste  whole  tracts  of  country, 
and  compelling  all  the  tribes  they  conquered 
to  embrace  the  faith  of  the  Prophet." * 

1  Arnold. 


How  Came  It?  119 

Amongst  others,  the  great  negro  nation  of 
the  Hausas — already  Moslem — willingly  sub 
mitted  to  their  rule,  and  Sokoto  was  built, 
and  made  the  captital  of  a  great  Moslem 
empire  in  Western  Equatorial  Africa,  which 
has  only  recently  been  overthrown  by  the 
British  power.  The  Yomba  country  on  the 
Niger  was  reached.  Only  a  broad  fringe 
along  the  whole  Guinea  Coast  remained 
pagan,  and  for  that  fringe  Christian  missions, 
with  the  odds  all  against  them,  are  contest 
ing  with  the  dead-weight  of  Islam,  pressing 
in  everywhere  from  the  north.  Here  again 
we  find  the  old  story ;  the  prestige  of  con 
quest  first,  intermarriage  second,  an  unex- 
acting  creed  and  a  morality  which  may  be 
as  low  as  possible  without  being  in  the 
least  un-moslem, — to  these  attractions  the 
Africans  fall  victim  by  tens  of  thousands,— 
while  Christians  who  are  unable  to  tolerate 
the  high  standard  of  a  spiritual  religion  and 
the  pure  Mastership  of  Jesus  Christ,  when 
they  fall  away,  fall  into  the  arms  of  Islam. 
At  the  Pan-Anglican  Congress  l  it  was  made 
terribly  clear  at  what  odds  the  Church  is 
fighting  in  West  Africa  ;  with  what  diffi 
culty  the  simple,  tempted  negro  Christians 

1  London,,  1908. 


120      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


Spiritual 
Methods. 
The  Sennussi 
order  of 
monks. 


Unspiritual 
methods. 


so  much  as  hold  their  own  in  face  of  the 
cruelly  subtle  temptation  of  Islam. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that 
an  immense  amount  of  proselytising  work 
has  been  done  over  these  vast  districts  of 
Africa  by  perfectly  peaceful  means,  preach 
ing,  schools,  and  the  like.  Take  for  ex 
ample  the  extraordinarily  powerful  order 
of  the  Senussi 1 — an  order  that  is  spread 
over  all  North  Africa.  From  their  schools 
and  monasteries  go  forth  missionaries, 
and  by  real  missionary  effort  they  convert 
heathens,  and  reform  professing  Moslems. 
How  long  this  peaceful  Islamic  theocracy 
will  refrain  from  becoming  an  aggressive 
and  warlike  one  is  another  matter. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  reverse  side 
to  this  picture.  The  basest  and  most  un- 
spiritual  methods  have  been  used,  and  are 
being  used,  to  convert  negroes  to  Islam. 
What  of  the  negroes  forced  to  Islamise  at 
the  sword's  point,  conformably  with  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  the  Koran  ?  What  of 
the  thousands  of  negroes  dragged  by  Zebehr 
Pasha  and  other  Arab  slave-raiders  from 
the  interior  of  the  Sudan,  and  placed  in 
an  environment  where  their  Islamising 

1  See  Appendix  F.  to  Chap.  IV. 


MOSLEMS    FROM    BALUCHISTAN 


MOSLEMS    FROM    CENTRAL   AFRICA 


How  Came  It  ?  121 

was  practically  inevitable  ?  What  of 
the  abominable  slave-raids  still  going  on, 
and  dignified  by  the  name  of  Jehad— 
"  Holy  "  war,  God  save  the  mark  !  And 
if  it  be  held  that  such  victims  of  Islam 
cannot  be  conceived  as  being  in  earnest 
about  religion  at  all,  and  so  should  be 
ignored  in  this  enquiry,  we  must  remember 
the  dictum  of  that  Egyptian  Cabinet- 
minister  :  "  No,  but  their  children  are 
sincere." 

We  have  hitherto  been  considering  Africa  Africa  South  of 
north  of  the  Equator.  We  must  close  this  (iuator- 
chapter  by  a  consideration  of  Islam  south 
of  the  line.  As  on  the  Guinea  Coast,  so 
in  the  whole  of  Africa  down  to  the  Zambesi, 
it  is  a  race  between  Christianity  and  Islam 
for  possession.  The  odds  are  great,  and 
the  penalty  for  losing  terrible,  for  when 
Islam  once  takes  hold,  it  becomes,  for 
reasons  that  will  be  dwelt  on  later, 
almost  impossible,  humanly  speaking,  to 
dislodge  it. 

It  is  astonishing  how  Islam  thrives  by 
villainous  methods  as  easily. as  by  righteous. 
For  example,  incredible  though  it  may 
seem,  the  unspeakably  brutal,  cruel,  and 
dastardly  Arab  slave-trade  is  the  direct 


122      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

cause  of  the  rapid  progress  made  by  Islam 
in  East  Africa  of  late.  Crushed  and  de 
graded  natures  often  admire  the  very 
strength  of  their  tormentors,  and  the 
Moslems  undoubtedly  acquired  immense 
prestige,  if  not  love,  all  through  the  slave  - 
raiding  districts  in  the  old  slave-raiding 
days  of  last  century.  "  Ah,  those  Mahdists 
were  something  like  men  !  "  recently  said 
some  poor  Nilotic  Sudanese  to  the  mission 
aries.  Now  these  same  Mahdists  had  done 
nothing  for  those  Sudanese  but  murder 
and  spoil  them.  The  missionaries — nay  the 
English  themselves — seemed  to  them  poor 
creatures.  They  did  not  even  beat  them  ! 
It  was  in  those  days  that  the  Christian 
Church  had  its  best  chance,  such  a  chance 
as  —  alas  !  is  not  presented  to  -  day, 
and  never  will  be  again.  The  mission- 
fields  of  Uganda  (C.M.S.),  Barotsiland 
(French),  and  Nyassaland  (Universities' 
and  Presbyterian  missions,  including 
Livingstonia)  have  indeed  shown  what 
might  be  done  in  the  way  of  stemming  and 
counteracting  the  onward  march  of  Islam, 
but  the  fact  still  remains  that  the  brightest 
hour  for  saving  Africa  from  Islam  was 
allowed  to  go  by.  The  new  condition  that 


How  Came  It?  123 

has  given  Islam  its  chance  is  the  righteous 
action,  the  humane  policy,  the  just  govern 
ance  of  Christian  nations,  which  in  most 
parts  have  stopped  slave-raiding  and  slave- 
trading,  and  turned  the  Moslem  slave -raider 
into  "honest  trader,"  who,  in  the  ring- 
fence  created  for  him  by  Christian  officials, 
itinerates,  intermarries,  and  uses  his  old 
prestige  to  influence  the  negroes  for  Islam. 
African  memories  are  short,  old  wounds 
heal  rapidly,  and  the  scars  are  disregarded. 
And  so  Africa,  north  of  the  Zambesi,  shows 
every  sign  of  becoming  a  Moslem  ocean, 
with  here  and  there  a  large  Christian  island 
in  its  midst. 

In  Africa  is  exemplified  a  further  point.  Moslem 
The  Moslem  evangelist  may  be  good,  bad,  Brotherh<*>d. 
or  indifferent ;   a  warlike  saint,  a  reforming 
enthusiast,  a  noble  monarch,  an  easy-going 
merchant,  a  scoundrel  of  an  ex-slave-raider ; 
but — how  comes  it  that  every  Moslem  is 
proud   of   Islam,   loves   Islam  in   his   own 
fashion,    and    therefore    stands    for    Islam 
wherever  he  goes  :    and   so  is   a  Moslem 
missionary  ? 

'  To  the  modern  Christian  world,1  mis 
sions    imply   organisations,   societies,   paid 

1  Zwemer's  e '  Islam/'  p.  79. 


124      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

agents,  subscriptions,  reports.  All  this  is 
practically  absent  from  the  present  Moslem 
idea  of  propagation,  and  yet  the  spread 
of  Islam  goes  on.  With  loss  of  political 
power,  the  zeal  of  Islam  seems  to  increase, 
for  Egypt  and  India  are  more  active  in 
propagating  the  faith  than  are  Turkey  or 
Morocco. 

''  In  Burma  (where  Indian  merchants 
are  the  Moslem  missionaries)  the  Moslem 
population  increased  thirty-three  per  cent, 
in  the  past  decade."  In  the  Western 
Sudan  and  the  Niger,  where  whole  districts 
have  become  Moslem,  to  a  large  extent  the 
work  has  been  done  by  merchants,  travel 
lers,  and  artisans.  "  A  pearl  merchant  at 
Bahrein,  East  Arabia,  recently,  at  his  own 
expense  and  on  his  own  initiative,  printed 
an  entire  edition  of  a  Koran  commentary 
for  free  distribution.  On  the  streets  of 
Lahore  and  Calcutta  you  may  see  clerks, 
traders,  bookbinders,  and  even  coolies, 
who  spend  part  of  their  leisure  time  preach 
ing  Islam,  or  attacking  Christianity  by 
argument.  The  merchants,  who  go  to 
Mecca  as  pilgrims  from  Java,  return  to  do 
missionary  work  among  the  hill- tribes. 
In  the  Sudan  the  Hausa  merchants  carry 


How  Came  It  ?  125 

the  Koran  and  the  catechism  wherever  they 
carry  their  merchandise.  No  sooner  do 
they  open  a  wayside  shop  in  some  pagan 
district  than  the  wayside  mosque  is  built 
by  its  side." 

Moreover,  and  finally — Moslem  prestige 
would  be  as  unavailing  to  effect  conversions 
as  English  prestige  has  been  in  India  or 
Egypt,  if  it  were  not  known  that  every 
man  may  share  this  prestige  by  making  the 
Moslem  confession,  and  becoming — out 
wardly  at  least — a  Mohammedan.  Every 
woman  may  in  a  sense  share  that  prestige 
by  becoming  the  wife  or  concubine  of  the 
Moslem  great  man,  and  by  bearing  him 
Moslem  children.  This  may  not  be  a  good 
way  of  inducing  conversion  from  the  side 
of  the  "  convert,"  but  from  the  point  of 
view  of  Islam,  does  it  not  point  to  a  real 
brotherhood,  a  real  readiness  to  admit  to 
and  share  privileges,  a  real  breaking  down 
of  race  barriers  and  animosities  ? — all  of 
which  things  seem  so  strangely  difficult 
to  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CHAPTER  III 
1.   Into    what    three    periods    may   the     Moslem 
conquests  be  roughly  divided  ?     Give  dates. 


i26      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

2.  Enumerate  the  countries  which  became  Moslem 
up  to  800  A.D.      How  do  you  mainly  account  for  the 
success  of  the  Moslem  arms  ? 

3.  How  far  is  Mohammedanism  a  social  system 
as  well  as  a  religion  ?      Illustrate  your  answer  from 
facts. 

4.  How  did  it  happen  that  the  Turks  became  the 
chief  Moslem  Power  ? 

5.  Give  an  account  of  the  winning  of  the  Mongols 
to  the  Moslem  Faith. 

6.  For  what  reasons  is  the  Moslem  community  in 
India  so  important  ?     Describe  the  events  which  led 
to  the  numbers  of  Moslems  in  that  country. 

7.  Describe  £he  spread  of  Islam  in  Africa  from 
1750  onwards. 

8.  In  what  sense  is  Africa  the  great  battle-ground 
between  Islam  and  Christianity  ?     For  what  reasons 
does  Islam  spread  more  quickly  than  Christianity  in 
the  present  day  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

Muni — The  Caliphate;  its  Rise,  Decline,  and  Fall. 

ARNOLD,  T.  W. — The  Preaching  of  Islam. 

WHERRY,  E.  M. — Islam  and  Christianity  in  India 
and  the  Far  East. 

BOSWORTH  SMITH,  R. — Mohammed  and  Moham 
medanism.  Lecture  I. 

ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Islam,  chap.  iii. 

ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam,  chaps, 
xix.,  xx.,  xxix. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WHAT     IS    IT  ? 

NOT  until  the  fourth  chapter  do  we  come  What  is  Islam  ? 

to   the  thing,  the  religion  of  Mohammed, 

the  It  itself.     We  are  not  engaged  in   an 

abstract  study  of  this  subject.     We  have 

rather  approached  it  as  an  observer  might 

approach    a    visible    organism    which    has 

arrested   his   attention.     First  he   takes   a 

good  look  at  it  from  the  outside,  observing 

where  it  is  placed,  and  in  what  environment, 

and   what   it   is    ostensibly    doing.     Then, 

his    curiosity   being   aroused,   he   asks   his 

friends  whence  it  came,  and  how  it  arrived 

at  its  present  state.     And  not  until  then 

does  he  give  a  more  penetrating  study  to 

the  object  itself,  his  knowledge  of  which, 

however,    has    been   greatly   increased    by 

what  his  friends  have  told  him  as  to  its 

origin  and  history. 

Similarly  we  first  made  a  rough,  ele 
mentary  observation  of  the  great  pheno 
menon  of  ISLAM  ;  and  although  we  have 

127 


128      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

not  yet  turned  to  a  closer  study  of  its 
inner  character,  its  doctrine  and  theory, 
yet  we  have  found  that  our  knowledge  of 
that,  too,  has  insensibly,  but  considerably, 
increased  by  the  mere  study  of  the  man 
who  was  its  source,  and  the  history  of  its 
spread  up  to  the  present  time.  We  thus 
begin  a  deeper  study  of  what  Islam  is  in 
itself,  without  losing  that  touch  with  life 
and  reality  which  is  so  absolutely  neces 
sary  if  our  study  is  to  have  practical 
results. 

Mohammed's         We  have  already  seen  the  external  in- 
beiief  in  Allah.    fluences  which  helped  to  lead  the  Arabian 

Prophet  to  a  belief  in  Allah — the  One  God. 
But  it  was  no  mere  intellectual  process, 
so  far  as  can  be  made  out,  by  which  he 
passed  to  this  belief.  He  did  not  merely 
come  to  possess  it ;  it  came  to  possess 
him.  He  was  filled  with,  a  burning  con 
viction  that  it  was  real,  actual — that  Allah 
was  gripping  him,  and  that  neither  he  nor 
any  created  thing  had  any  might  at  all  as 
against  Him.  Mohammed  was  not  a  philo 
sopher  ;  we  might  say  he  was  not  even  a 
theologian ;  he  never  troubled  to  remove 
crudities  from  his  faith,  or  give  them  an 
explanation — his  followers  were  left  that 


What  is  It?  129 

delicate  task — he  felt  he  had  experienced 
Allah,  a  living,  absolutely  all-powerful  and 
irresistible  Being.  And  this  feeling  of 
Allah's  reality  and  personality  was  so 
strong  that  the  language  and  imagery  of 
the  Koran  in  speaking  of  God  is  often  as 
full  of  startling  human  metaphors  and 
images  as  the  Old  Testament.  At  the 
same  time  no  hint  was  ever  given  that 
Mohammed's  words  were  to  be  interpreted 
with  anything  but  prosaic  literalism,  so 
that  a  task  of  endless  difficulty  was  left 
to  the  future  theologians,  that  of  deciding 
how,  and  in  what  sense,  such  images  and 
metaphors  were  to  be  construed,  in  what 
sense  Allah  "settled  Himself  on  the  Throne," 
or  "  spoke,"  or  was  to  be  "  beheld  "  by  the 
saved,  or  "  descended  into  the  lowest 
heaven,"  or  held  the  Prophet  "  between 
two  of  His  fingers."  .  .  .  These  things 
enable  us  to  feel  the  naivete  and  the  over 
whelming  convincedness  of  Mohammed's 
faith  in  this  irresistible,  Omnipotent  One. 
There  was  little  mystical  about  him ; 
Allah  was  to  him  mo^t  emphatically  "  a 
Force "  .  .  .  "a  Force  not  ourselves." 
The  Creator  and  the  creature  were  utterly 
distinct ;  the  creature  had  been  brought 


130      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

into  existence  by  the  Divine  word  BE  ; 
naked  of  power  he  came  into  existence, 
and  naked  of  power  he  abode  in  existence, 
for  as  against  the  all  and  only  Powerful 
One  he  had  no  fraction  of  power,  in  things 
great  or  in  things  small.  His  deeds,  his 
character,  his  faith  or  unfaith  were  de 
termined  by  irresistible  decree,  for  at  any 
point  to  deny  this  would  be,  at  that  point, 
to  assert  some  gap  in  the  power  of  Allah, 
and  so  some  inefficacy  and  weakness, 
which  is  impossible.  And  as  by  the  power 
of  the  same  irresistible  decree  he  joined 
the  ranks  of  the  believers  or  of  the  un 
believers,  so  by  its  power  he  was  numbered 
among  the  saved  in  the  Garden  of  Delights 
or  the  damned  in  the  broiling  Fire : — 
Allah  is  not  "to  be  questioned  "  for  what 
He  does.  He  is  "  responsible  "  to  no  one  ; 
for  to  conceive  of  Him  as  having  to  answer 
for  any  of  His  actions  or  decrees  would  be 
to  invest  the  creature  with  a  certain  right 

o 

or  power  as  against  Him,  and  so  limit  His 
Omnipotence,  which  is  impossible.  In  short, 
to  set  any  limit  whatsoever  to  the  absolute, 
the  unmitigated  omnipotence  of  God  was 
to  Mohammed,  as  it  is  to  every  Moslem,  a 
simple  blasphemy. 


What  is  It?  131 

It  is  no  process  of  pure  thought  that  This  Belief 
leads  a  man  to  this  sort  of  faith.  What e: 
Mohammed  experienced  belongs  only  to 
him  who  feels  that  GOD  has  laid  on  to  him 
with  Will  and  with  Power,  that  he  is 
apprehended  before  he  apprehends  ;  while 
he  himself  neither  knows  nor  asks  why. 
He  bows  in  adoration  ;  he  acknowledges 
the  grace ;  he  worships.  .  .  .  The  great 
Augustine  sounds  this  note  in  his  Con 
fessions  ;  it  is  the  characteristic  note  of 
souls  who  have  experienced  a  violent 
conversion,  who  have  felt  the  special, 
personal,  not-accountable,  personal  in 
coming,  or  oncoming  of  God.  Mohammed 
was  of  the  same  family,  and  in  his  case 
there  was  nothing  to  mitigate,  or  qualify, 
or  balance,  or  soften  the  stark  conviction 
of  God  as  all-active  and  all-powerful  Force. 

This  conception  of  a  living,  omniscient,  Conception  of 
irresistible  Will  and  almighty  Power,  which 
might  almost  be  said  to  exhaust  the  con 
ception  of  God  in  the  Koran,  has  left  its 
indelible  mark  on  Islam  to  this  day.  The 
systems  of  the  theologians  were  extracted 
from  the  Koran,  helped  out  by  the  tradi 
tions  of  the  Prophet's  conversation,  and 
they  show  that  this  conception  regulated 


132      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

all  their  thinking ;  while  the  efforts  of 
some  to  get  away  from  it,  or  modify  it, 
only  showed  the  real  impossibility  of  doing 
so.  The  theologians  may  be  said  to  have 
fairly  got  out  what  was  in  the  Koran  on 
this  fundamental  point.  In  their  reason 
ings  as  to  the  Nature  and  Character  of 
Allah — His  Essence  and  Attributes — they 
deduced  Seven  (primary)  Attributes  which 
are  worth  examining  ;  that  Allah  is 

(1)  Living, 

(2)  Omniscient, 

(3)  Omnipotent, 

(4)  Irresistible  in  Will,  ' 
and  that  He 

(5)  Hears,  "  ^ 

(6)  Sees,  ^ 

(7)  Speaks, 

The  last  three  may  strike  the  reader  as 
either  redundant  or  too  largely  employ 
ing  human  metaphor.  For  either  "  hear 
ing  "  and  "  seeing  "  are  mere  expressions  of 
omniscience,  and  "  speaking  "  a  mere  mani 
festation  of  omnipotence,  or  else  they  add 
human  metaphors  and  images  to  the  purely 
general  conceptions  of  GOD  of  the  first 
four.  As  a  matter  of  fact  these  three  have 
caused  the  theologians  a  vast  amount  of 


What  is  It?  133 

trouble.     They  are  generally  explained  as 
being  incomprehensible  ! 

When  we  turn  to  the  Ninety-Nine  Names 
deduced  from  the  epithets  used  of  Allah 
in  the  Koran,  we  find  a  useful  commen 
tary  on  these  Seven  Attributes,  but  we 
do  not  find  anything  really  new  added. 

1 "  Yet  the  ideas  of  gentleness  and  kindness 
are  certainly  riot  absent  from  the  Koran.  Every 
Mohammedan  who  says  his  rosary  calls  GOD  'The 
Merciful/  '  The  Compassionate/  '  The  Forgiver/ 
'  The  Clement/  (  The  Guardian/  '  The  Loving/ 
'The  Accepter  of  Repentance/  'The  Pardoner/ 
(  The  King/  <  The  Patient/  .  .  .  These  gentler 
attributes  are  mentioned  again  and  again.  .  .  . 
Mohammed,  we  are  told,  was  never  tired  of  telling 
his  followers  that  the  love  of  GOD  for  man  was 
more  tender  than  that  of  a  mother  bird  for  its 
young.  Still,  although  there  is  the  recognition  of 
the  loving-kindness  of  GOD,  it  is  true  to  say  generally 
that  the  predominating  thought  in  the  mind  of  the 
Mohammedan  is  that  of  the  power  of  GOD.  . 
The  Mohammedan  call  to  prayer  is  '  GOD  is  Great.'  " 

So  we  find  that  the  conception  of  Will-  summed  up  as 
Power  is  paramount,  supreme.     It  modifies,  Wl11  Power- 
and  is   not  modified   by,   any   other   con 
ception    whatever.     Take    a    crucial    ex 
ample  of  the  highest  importance.     In  what 
sense,  asks  a  recently  published  Moham- 

1  Dale's  "Contrast  between  Christianity  and  Moham 
medanism." 


134      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

medan  text-book,  is  it  right  to  say  that 
Allah  has  the  characteristic  Loving — that 
He  loves  ?  The  answer  is  that  love  must 
be  understood  as  Allah's  favour  bestowed 
on  a  favoured  individual,  and  that  similarly 
His  Wrath  is  the  negation  of  that  favour. 
Now,  of  course,  this  at  once  to  all  intents 
and  purposes .  identifies  Love  with  Will, 
for  favour  is  simply  Allah's  Will  in  relation 
to  an  individual.  And  what  He  wills  He 
surely  performs  by  His  power.  To  this 
day  in  Cairo — or  anywhere  else  in  the 
Moslem  world — you  cannot  get  a  Sheikh 
to  advance  beyond  this  conception.  The 
text  "  God  is  Love  "  moves  him  not  at 
all,  so  strongly  does  he  feel  that  to  admit 
anything  like  an  emotional  element  in  the 
Godhead  is  to  imagine  a  degree  of  weak 
ness  or  helplessness  in  it.  The  words 
'  The  Merciful,  the  Compassionate  "  head 
nearly  every  Sura  in  the  Koran  ;  but  the 
conception  never  comes  near  that  of  an  all- 
pitying  Father.  It  is  rather  the  "  mercy  " 
of  an  autocrat,  who  spares  a  few  from  the 
general  destruction,  for  motives  no  more 
intelligible  than  those  for  which  Caliban 
spared  some  of  the  land- crabs,  in  Brown 
ing's  notable  poem. 


What  is  It?  135 

Thus  to  the  Creator  is  assigned  the  sole  Efforts  to 
Will  and  Power,  and  from  the  whole  stari/Deism 
creation,  including  Man,  the  very  least 
and  slightest  semblance  of  independence 
or  spontaneity  in  thought  or  action 
has  been  taken  away.  One  school  of 
philosopher-theologians,  the  Mu'tazilites, 
or  Seceders,  made  an  attempt  to  mitigate 
this  pitiless  doctrine ;  to  introduce  into 
Allah's  omnipotence  the  notion  of  respon 
sibility  for  the  good  of  His  creatures, 
to  guard  somewhat  of  the  responsibility 
of  man  to  find  Him  and  to  please  Him ; 
in  other  words  to  make  the  whole  system 
in  some  degree  rational.  For  one  genera 
tion,  helped  by  royal  patronage  (Ma'mun 
and  Mu'tasim,  the  Abbaside  Caliphs  of 
Baghdad),  they  made  a  great  effort  against 
the  dead-weight  of  Islamic  public  opinion, 
with  its  only  too  faithful  instinct  for  the 
true  implication  of  the  Koran.  The  attempt 
utterly  broke  down.  Like  the  swimmer 
against  some  mighty  current  they  tired 
and  failed,  and  Caliph,  Doctor,  and  Popu 
lace,  with  relief  swung  back  into  the  old 
current,  and  heartily  cursed  the  men  who 
thought  that  God's  concern  for  His  crea 
tures'  good  might  be  looked  for  as  the 


136      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


The  Eternally 
True  Element 
in  this  Creed. 
(a)  Power  of 
believing 
Moslems. 


motive  for  His  actions  towards  them ; 
and  who  asserted  that  man  was  responsible 
to  seek  for  the  will  of  God,  and  to  perform 
it  if  he  knew  it.  Such  were  the  doctrines 
cursed  by  El  Ash'ari  and  all  orthodox 
Islam  with  him,  before  and  since  ! 

Now  a  faith  in  a  living  God  that  wills 
and  acts  is  indeed  a  vitally  necessary 
thing  in  religion.  And  Frederick  Denison 
Maurice  well  points  out  how  irresistible 
the  Moslems  were  when  possessed  with  it : 
indeed  how  morally  right  and  necessary  it 
was  that  men  in  the  living  heat  of  this 
conviction  should  have  put  to  shame  and 
to  flight  men  in  whom  this  conviction  was 
a  thing  of  name  and  not  of  reality.  But  he 
shows,  too,  that  this  faith  is  only  efficacious 
and  constructive  when  it  is  in  ebullition. 
At  other  times  it  sinks  into  a  dead  fatalism 
which,  instead  of  goading  to  action,  para 
lyses  it.  It  needs  the  angel  to  trouble 
the  pool  to  produce  real  results  :  the 
results  are  therefore  fitful,  and  the  action 
liable  to  sink  back  into  listlessness.  An 
example  of  this  is  the  utter  apathy  into 
which  Arabia  fell,  as  we  have  seen,  when 
the  fever-fit  of  conversion  had  spent  itself. 
Then  the  sword  fell  from  the  inert  hand  of 


SCHOOLBOYS    LEARNING    THE    KORAN 


MOSLEM    RELIGIOUS    GATHERING    AT    OYO,    W.    AFRICA 


What  is  It?  137 

the  Arabs  and  was  taken  up  by  the  Turks, 
—now  Moslem  Turkey  has  been  utterly 
inert  for  centuries.  Just  the  same  can  be 
said  in  regard  to  that  frantic  ebullition 
known  as  the  Mogul  invasion  of  India. 
Again,  the  Wahhabite  puritan  movement 
in  Arabia  inspired  the  central  African 
Fulani,  Othman,  with  a  belief  in  his  God- 
appointed  office  as  reformer  and  con 
queror.  In  the  passion  of  that  belief 
he  built  up  the  Fulani  Empire.  The 
Moslem  realm  of  Hausaland  received  the 
reformers  and  conquerors  .  .  .  yet  in  one 
generation  the  moral  impetus  of  the 
movement  had  utterly  ceased,  and  re 
forming  Fulani  and  reformed  Hausa  had 
sunk  back  into  a  more  profound  apathy 
than  before.  The  striking  instance  of  the 
volcanic  outbreak  of  Mahdism  in  the 
Egyptian  Sudan  in  1883,  and  the  veritable 
prostration  of  inertia  which  immediately 
succeeded  it,  is  fresh  in  everyone's  mind. 
The  failure,  too,  of  Mohammedan  moral- 
reform  movements  to  make  their  fruit 
abide  is  even  more  striking  than  the  same 
failure  in  the  case  of  movements  of  a 
warlike  civilised  character. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  needs  MORE  than 


138      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

this  conception  of  unconditioned,  irre 
sponsible,  arbitrary  Will-Power  to  produce 
on  the  part  of  man  a  steady  upward  moral 
effort  towards  a  mark  and  along  a  course 
which  his  Creator  has  shown  to  him  ; — has 
confided  to  him,  not  as  a  slave,  "for  the 
slave  knoweth  not  what  his  Lord  doeth," 
but  as  a  "  friend,"  who  is  capable  of  feeling 
sympathy  with  the  end  itself,  and  of  being 
fellow- worker  in  the  working  of  it  out. 
Dignity  of  Another  praiseworthy  result  of  Islam, 

Moslems.  when  it  is  held  as  a  really  living  faith,  is 

the  dignity  with  which  it  invests  the 
believer,  who,  though  a  slave,  has  the 
slave's  right  of  access  to  his  Lord.  The 
calm  dignity  of  a  Moslem  at  prayer  is  ever 
a  striking,  and  even  a  moving  sight.  And 
the  stately  bearing  of  the  robed  and 
turbaned  Moslem  Sheikh  has  at  all  times 
excited  the  admiration  of  beholders.  This, 
too,  is  a  reminder  to  the  Christian  to  practise, 
as  well  as  to  profess,  a  faith  in  a  living  God. 
Yet  here  again,  a  qualification  cannot  but 
be  made.  How  much  of  Moslem  dignity 
is  otherwise  accountable,  and  how  much 
of  it  is  purely  external, — a  posture  in 
herited  from  forefathers  rather  than  the 
reflection  of  a  noble  spirit  within.  Some 


What  is  It?  139 

modern  writers,1  with  all  their  acknow 
ledged  sympathy,  are  not  deceived  as  to 
the  cringing  manners,  the  sensuality,  the 
childishness,  the  downright  vulgarity  that 
may  inwardly  characterise  yonder  statu 
esque  individual,  who  might,  as  regards 
his  outward  man,  stand  as  a  model  for  a 
Moses  or  a  David.  And  what  religion 
has  so  uniformly  tended  to  produce,  and  to 
acquiesce  in,  tyrants,  with  their  inevitable 
following  of  toadies,  cringers,  and  abjects, 
as  this  power- worshipping  faith  ? 

Christendom  indeed  cannot  possibly  dis-  God  as  Love, 
pense  with  this  conception  of  a  Living, 
Knowing,  Willing,  and  Acting  God ;  nay, 
must  relearn  that  conception  whenever 
it  becomes  merely  formal  in  her,  even 
if  her  teacher  be  Islam.  But  this  is 
only  a  part  of  her  Faith.  The  spirit  of 
Jesus  revealed  "  God  is  Love.  ..."  "  Your 
Father  which  is  in  Heaven.  ..."  "  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  .  .  . ! " 
Over  against  the  blank  "  God  is  not  to  be 
questioned  as  to  what  He  does,"  as  to  why 

1  See  for  example  some  of  Mr  Cutliffe  Hyne's  sketches 
in  the  Captain  Kettle  stories  (true  sketches  for  all  their 
levity)  ;  the  "  heroes "  in  Mr  PickthalPs  novels  ;  even 
one  or  two  characters  in  Mr  Hichen's  ee  Garden  of 
Allah/ 


140      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

He  called  the  worlds  into  being,  the  Spirit 
says,  "  For  Thy  glory  they  were  and  are 
created." 

True,  the  Christian  religion  does  not 
claim  to  have  fully  solved  the  problems 
of  the  Will  of  God  and  the  will  of  man,  of 
universal  love  and  the  existence  of  sin 
and  sorrow;  but  it  has  kept  both  facts  in 
view,  and  above  all  it  has  refused  to  lose 
sight  of  the  Love  of  God  :  it  has  been 
willing  to  seem  inconsistent,  to  fail  partially 
in  its  logical  construing  of  Deity  rather 
than  utterly  to  fail  in  its  moral  conception 
of  Him  ;  to  confess  that  the  human  reason 
finds  ultimate  insoluble  difficulties  rather 
than  to  abolish  the  philosophical  difficulty 
of  GOD'S  Will  and  man's  free-will  at  the 
appalling  cost  of  confessing  a  faith  in 
unrational,  unmoral  Almightiness. 

God  as  Holi-  We  pass  to  another  aspect  of  the  same 
question.  Having  already  seen  how 
destitute  the  Moslem  Allah  is  of  the  Love 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  in  Christ  has  re 
vealed  to  us,  we  go  on  to  ask  if  Holiness  is 
to  be  found  in  Allah  ? 

The  Church  of  God,  from  its  origin  in 
the  Jewish  Church,  did  not  climb  to  the 
idea  of  a  Holy  God  without  difficulty.  How 


What  is  It?  141 

many  traces  there  are  in  the  Old  Testament 
of  the  idea  that  the  Holiness  of  God  is  not 
absolutely  related  to  goodness ;  that  it 
might  be  considered,  on  the  one  hand, 
Jehovah's  dislike  for  ceremonial  unclean- 
ness,  or  on  the  other  hand,  Jehovah's 
infinite  transcendence  of  all  mortal  things 
whatsoever,  the  dazzling  glory  of  a  light 
too  bright  to  be  illumining.  But  as  the 
revelation  of  God  deepened,  through 
patriarch,  psalmist,  and  prophet,  it  was 
seen  that  in  His  holiness  was  righteousness, 
and  an  intrinsic  antagonism  to  sin ;  that  He 
was  "  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  evil " ; 
and  that  therefore  He  Himself,  and  in 
Himself,  was  good  and  holy,  and  that  evil 
had  not  its  source  in  Him.  Thus  the 
revelation  in  and  through  Christ  found  the 
foundations  already  laid.  The  conception 
of  God  had  been  made  thoroughly  moral ; 
and  Jesus  Christ  endorsed  all,  crowned  all, 
fulfilled  all  when  He  said—"  Holy  Father:' 
The  Moslem  intellect,  on  the  contrary, 
asserts  that  God  is  not  to  be  questioned 
as  to  what  He  does.  To  the  Moslem, 
moral  goodness  is  a  finite  affair,  and  to 
apply  it  to  Allah  is  a  vain  thing  to  do. 
He  does  not  even  feel  the  passionate 


142      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

spiritual  need  of  falling  back  on  an  unseen, 
ultimate  goodness  ''  believing  where  we 
cannot  prove."  The  idea  of  God  as  pure 
will  is  confessedly  enough  for  him.  He 
has  no  scruples  and  no  soul  struggles. 
The  slave  asks  no  question  of  his  Sultan  ; 
what  the  latter  does  is  right  because  he 
does  it,  not  for  any  quality  in  the  action 
itself.  From  this  it  has  followed  that 
Mohammed  and  the  theologians  after  him 
have  laid  down  with  clearness  that  Allah 
is  the  creator  and  originator  of  evil. 
He  destined  a  certain  number  of  people 
to  perform  that  evil ;  and  He  manifested 
His  displeasure  (if  the  word  is  not  a 
misnomer  in  so  passionless  a  Being)  by 
damning  them  to  everlasting  torture  in 
Hell.  Nothing  could  be  more  explicit  or 
emphatic  than  the  Moslem  assertion  of  this 
naked  doctrine.  Its  logical  completeness 
seems  even  to  silence  every  moral  qualm 
as  to  its  moral  possibility. 

Right  and  This  only  shows  that  Pure  Will  in  itself 

meanmg^hi6  "     *s  no^>  anv  m°re  than  Pure  Force,  necessarily 

themselves.        moral.     It  is  no  more  possible  to  deduce 

goodness   from   either   separately   or   both 

together,    than    it    would    be    to    deduce 

goodness  from  the  actions  of  an  enormous 


What  is  It?  143 

engine,  endued  for  the  moment  with  life 
("  Living  "),  consciousness  ("  Knowing  "), 
and  self-direction  ("Willing").  But  it 
also  makes  clear  an  even  more  startling 
point :  and  that  is,  that  Right  and  Wrong, 
Good  and  Evil,  are  in  this  light  seen  to  be 
evacuated  of  intrinsic  meaning.  For  the 
distinctions  now  depend  entirely  on  Allah's 
decree  ;  but  the  reasons  for  that  decree 
are  not  to  be  sought ;  they  need  not  be 
believed  to  exist  at  all,  either  in  the  nature 
of  Allah  Himself  ("  Allah  is  not  to  be  asked 
concerning  that  which  He  does  ")  or  in 
the  nature  of  Right  and  Wrong  in  them 
selves.  What  then  ?  The  decree  pronounc 
ing  certain  things  right  and  certain  others 
wrong  is  more  of  the  nature  of  an  adminis 
trative  act :  it  does  not  so  much  create 
them  "  right  "  or  "  wrong,"  as  "  permitted  " 
(haldl),  or  "  not-permitted "  (Jiaram) 
(tabooed!);  not  as  odious  in  themselves, 
but  as  infringing  the  fiat  of  the  Absolute 
Sultan.  Orthodox  Moslem  theologians 
have  not  scrupled  plainly  to  assert  that  it 
is  only  Allah's  decree  that  constituted 
"  good  'v  actions  right,  and  "  bad  "  actions 
wrong  :  and  that  had  the  decree  been  the 
other  way  round,  as  it  might  have  been, 


144      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  whole  of  mankind's  moral  judgments 
would  have  had  to  be  reversed.  Fortun 
ately  for  Islam  and  the  world,  Allah  is 
assigned,  on  the  whole,  a  certain  consistency 
in  His  decrees  upon  these  matters,  and  the 
uniformity  with  which  He  has  tabooed 
adultery,  theft,  cruelty,  and  so  forth  has 
conveyed  to  the  ordinary  Moslem,  no 
doubt,  the  sense  that  these  things  are 
necessarily,  and  in  themselves,  evil.  Men 
are  fortunately  not  so  mad  as  their  logic ; 
and  the  well-disposed  Moslem  often  has 
real  love  for  righteousness,  and  that  love 
may  even  be  the  intenser  because  it  is  the 
declared  will  of  Allah.  But  there  is  no 
real  understanding  of  holiness,  or  of  sin  in 
themselves.  Allah  can  legitimatise  actions 
that  were  formerly  illegitimate,  for  the 
benefit  of  His  prophet,  of  all  persons ! 
Nor  did  such  actions  belong  only  to  the 
purely  ceremonial  sphere,  where  abrogation, 
it  might  be  allowed,  does  not  touch  morals  : 
they  often  seem  to  us  to  fall  completely 
within  the  ethical  sphere.  The  Moslem 
might  indeed  say  that  in  these  cases  they 
were  mere  matters  of  regulation.  But  that 
only  shows  how  strong  is  the  tendency  to 
conceive  of  morality  as  mere  regulation,  and 


JONAH  S    LODGING-PLACE KAAFAR,    ON    EUPHRATES 

Place  of  Pilgrimage  for  Jews  and  Moslems 


A    SAINT  S    TOMB 


What  is  It?  145 

to  degrade  the  eternal  laws  of  holiness  into 
decrees  which  might  be  changed  to-morrow, 
by  the  Despot  who  ordained  them. 

Thus  we  see  that  a  heavy  price  has  to  be  Atonement. 
paid  by  those  who  worship  unconditioned 
Might :  it  appears  to  involve  the  dis 
appearance  of  both  Love  and  Holiness  in 
any  real  sense  of  the  words.  After  this  it 
causes  no  surprise,  though  it  does  deepen 
regret,  to  find  that  Islam  has  no  place  for 
Atonement.  For  the  necessity,  or  rather 
the  fact  of  atonement,  sprang  from  just 
these  things  in  God — His  Love  and  His 
Holiness.  And  man's  consciousness  of  the 
need  of  redemption  by  atonement  is  only 
realised  when  the  Spirit  of  Christ  convinces 
the  conscience  of  sinful  man  that  God  is 
holiness  and  that  God  is  Love  ;  that  in  the 
CROSS  is  shown  against  the  dark  back 
ground  of  man's  failure  and  sin,  the  measure 
of  the  Divine  Passion  against  evil  (God's 
Holiness),  the  measure  of  the  Divine 
Passion  for  redeeming  the  sinner  from  it 
(God's  Love).  The  agnosticism  of  Islam 
in  regard  either  to  love  or  to  holiness  in 
Allah  made  it  impossible  for  Mohammed 
to  find  room  for  Atonement  in  his  con 
ception  of  Allah,  or  to  realise  the  need 


146      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

of  it  in  man.  In  that  inscrutable, 
passionless  life  of  His,  in  which  He  does 
everything,  and  no  other  does  anything, 
the  wickedness  of  man  means,  in  the  last 
analysis,  nothing  whatever  to  Him.  There 
is  no  real  failure,  no  real  offence,  for  evil  is 
His  direct  and  avowed  work.  .  .  And  it 
follows  absolutely  that  just  as  deep  hatred 
of  sin,  so  the  very  idea  of  atonement,  is 
absent  even  from  the  deepest  depths  of 
Moslem  thought. 

And  from  the  other  view-point  the 
agnosticism  of  Islam  with  regard  to  the 
nature  of  love  in  Allah  makes  the  idea  of 
Atonement,  in  which  God  sacrifices  Him 
self,  impossible.  That  God  should  be 
affected,  suffer,  is  a  thought  utterly  in 
tolerable  to  the  Moslem.  All  patience, 
all  passivity  is  weakness,  is  a  temporary 
abandonment  of  the  Omnipotent  activity  of 
Allah,  and  is  therefore  even  more  repug 
nant  an  idea  to  the  Moslem  than  is  the 
notion  of  the  interruption  of  natural  cause 
and  effect  to  the  scientist  of  to-day.  So 
love  itself,  and  pity,  an<5  the  desire  to  save 
at  whatever  cost,  and  passion,  and  redemp 
tive  sacrifice,  and  every  other  idea  that  is 
comprehended  in  the  thrilling  word  Atone- 


What  is  It?  147 

ment,  go  together  in  one  clean  sweep.  No 
champion  of  the  impossibility  of  a  suffering 
God  is  half  so  devoted  or  so  consistent  as 
the  Moslem.  He  explains  away  a  few  ex 
pressions  in  the  Koran,  but  not  many ; 
on  the  whole  the  Koran  gives  the  im 
pression  of  the  Passionless  Deity  very 
fairly,  for  even  His  favour  to  Believers 
and  His  fiery  vengeance  on  Unbelievers 
are  too  inscrutable  to  seem  like  real  love 
or  real  resentment.  But  the  Moslem  sees 
that  no  amount  of  explaining  will  explain 
away  the  great  texts  of  both  Old  and  New 
Testament,  where  Hebrew  Prophet  and 
Christian  Apostle,  equally  under  the  guid 
ance  of  the  Spirit  of  JESUS  pointed,  the 
one?. to  HIM  "  Who  in  all  their  afflictions 
was  afflicted,"  the  other  to  Him  "Who 
was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  World  to 
Himself,"  and  Who  "  so  loved  the  World 
that  He  gave  ..."  And  therefore  he 
indignantly  rejects  those  Books  as  miserably 
corrupted, — blasphemies  against  the  Ab 
solute  Monarch  of  Creation. 

It  is  true  that  the  notion  of  atonement 
appears  in  certain  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
a  primitive  and  elementary  religious  char 
acter.  Examples  are  seen  in  the  slaying 


148      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

of  a  sheep  in  the  Feast  of  Sacrifice,  to 
commemorate  Abraham's  "  redemption  " 
of  his  son  by  a  ram  :  certain  sacrifices  at 
the  pilgrimage  ;  and  the  prophet's  praise 
of  blood- shedding  as  highly  pleasing  to  God. 
Then  again  the  tendency  is  shown  in 
Persian  or  Shi'ite  Islam  to  fall  back  upon 
the  intercession  of  a  suffering  mediator, 
efficacious  in  proportion  to  the  agony  of 
his  suffering.  The  "  merits  "  of  the 
Shi'ite  Man  of  Sorrows — the  pathetic  figure 
of  the  ill-fated  Husain,1  that  grandson 
of  the  Prophet  who  fell  at  Kerbela,  done 
unjustly  to  death — are  pled  by  every 
Shieite  Moslem,  and  may  perhaps  point 
to  a  deep-seated  instinct  of  the  human 
heart.  But  all  these  sacrifices  are  at 
most  paid  by  man.  As  to  the  idea  at 
the  very  base  of  atonement,  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  God,  it  is  utterly  incom 
patible  with  the  whole  Islamic  concep 
tion  of  Allah.  It  is  further  incompatible 
with  the  Islamic  conception  of  a  Great 
Prophet.  The  Koran  explicitly  denies 
that  Jesus  was  ever  crucified,  adopting 
an  old  heretical  fiction,  that  someone  else, 

1  Of.  "  Behind  the  Veil  in  Persia  and  Turkish  Arabia." 
--Seeley,  p.  109  ff. 


What  is  It?  149 

in  His  likeness,  was  nailed  to  the  tree. 
Nothing  is  more  striking,  in  talking  with 
Moslem  sheikhs,  than  to  see  the  disgust  and 
horror  with  which  they  spurn  the  idea  of 
God's  atonement  as  bitterly  dishonouring 
to  Him.  It  may  be  Christendom  herself 
has  not  fully  realized  the  self-sacrifice  of 
God  in  Christ. 

To  sum  up  :  the  creation  of  man  was  in 
no  sense  the  creation  of  a  free  agent : 
therefore  it  was  not  the  creation  of  a  moral 
agent ;  therefore  it  introduced  no  new 
element  into  the  world,  set  up  no  possi 
bility  of  moral  struggle,  or  the  cost  that  the 
winning  of  a  moral  being,  by  purely  spiritual 
means,  necessarily  involves.  That  Allah 
as  a  matter  of  fact  did  not  will  or  permit 
such  a  thing  as  divine  self-sacrifice  is 
asserted  by  Islam.  Nay,  it  was  impossible 
for  Him  to  permit  such  a  thing.  Islam  in 
its  zeal  against  limiting  God  actually  ends  by 
limiting  Him.1  It  knows  not  the  moral "  could 
not"-,  it  repeats  Peter's  "  Thou  shalt  not 
wash  my  feet."  It  confuses  physical  and 
moral  power.  It  cannot  stoop  with  the 
God-Man  to  the  Cradle  of  Bethlehem; 

1  Readers  of  Robert  Browning  will  remember  how  this 
idea  is  developed,  especially  in  his  "  Saul/' 


150      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

it  cannot  stand  with  Him  on  the  Mount 
of  Temptation  making  the  great  decision 
between  the  strength  of  God  and  the 
strength  of  this  world  ;  it  cannot  bow  with 
Him  in  Gethsemane  ;  it  cannot  see  that 
in  the  Cross  He  was  lifted  up,  and  that  the 
Reign  upon  the  Throne  above  is  the  more 
glorious  because  it  keeps  the  mark  of  the 
Reign  on  the  Cross-throne  below.  So  In 
carnation  and  Atonement  are  alike  im 
possible  to  its  thought : l  it  preserves, 
indeed,  Allah  with  His  unity.  His  majesty, 
and  Power,  but  at  cost  of  depriving  the 
idea  of  God,  of  Love  and  Holiness. 
Relation  In  spite  of  the  belief  that  God  hears,  sees, 

betJw™en  Goiu   and  speaks,  Moslem  theology  after  Moham- 

and  Man :—  The 

agnosticism  of  med  more  and  more  took  refuge  in  the 
doctrine  of  MuJchdlafah,  or  the  total  and 
absolute  difference  between  the  Creator  and 
the  creature  from  any  and  every  point  of 
view.  If  this  chapter  were  a  philosophical 
or  theological  treatise  it  would  be  most 
instructive  to  develop  this  point  and  to 
show  the  profound  agnosticism  which  this 
doctrine  of  Difference  really  embodies : 

1  The  Koran  explicitly  denies  the  Sonship  or  the 
Divinity  of  Christ ;  and  not  only  the  doctrine  of  His 
Atonement,  but  even  the  fact  of  His  Death. 


What  is  It?  151 

and  how  it  almost  appears  to  reduce  Allah 
to  a  negative  term,  according  to  the  strange 
rhyme  current  in  Egypt  which  may  thus 
be  rendered  : 

"  Whatever  idea  your  mind  comes  at, 
I  tell  you  flat 
God  is  NOT  that." 

The  impossibility  of  likeness  to,  or  union 
with  God,  accounts  for  the  extraordinary 
formality  and  unspirituality  of  most 
Moslems'  religion.  In  a  deep  sense  their 
prayer  is  TO  AN  UNKNOWN  GOD.  On  earth 
His  name  is  ever  on  their  lips,  yet  in 
Paradise  itself,  it  is  not  He  who  is  the 
object  of  their  hearts'  delight. 

This    slenderness    of    relation    between  The  eschato 

/-i     i  i  n  i  •  logy  of  Islam. 

God  and  man,  morally  speaking,  comes 
out  also  in  the  teaching  of  Islam,  with  re 
gard  to  the  Last  Things.  There  is  indeed 
little  in  the  representations  of  Paradise 
given  in  the  Koran,  and  expanded  by  the 
commentators,  to  uplift  the  soul.  It  is 
first  and  foremost  a  garden  of  delights  of 
either  a  gaudy  or  a  sensual  nature.  It  is 
true  that  in  one  or  two  places  the  vision 
of  God  is  set  down  as  the  greatest  joy  of 
all,  and  the  most  spiritual  of  the  Moslem 
doctors  have  not  failed  to  seize  that  point, 


152      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

and  to  attempt  to  spiritualise  the  gross 
imagery  employed.  But  these  attempts 
have  been  a  failure.  Orthodoxy  cannot 
go  far  in  this  direction,  and  it  cannot  be 
too  carefully  remembered  that  though 
Mohammedanism  has  its  sects  and  off 
shoots,1  "  orthodox  "  Islam  is  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  identical  with  Islam  itself. 
The  huge  mass  of  Moslems  always  have 
taken,  and  always  will  take,  the  description 
of  Paradise  in  the  Koran  as  literal. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  there  is 
simply  no  comparison  between  this  imagery 
(if  indeed  it  is,  or  was  ever  intended  to  be 
mere  imagery),  and  that  of  the  book  of 
Revelation.  The  latter  is  clean,  beautiful, 
and  simple  :  the  spiritual  antitype  of  every 
image  is  clearly  indicated  at  every  turn. 
It  immediately  kindles  spiritual  emotions. 
But  the  curse  of  the  Koranic  imagery  is 
that  its  most  direct  and  significant  appeal 
is  carnal,  and  that  it  stimulates  that  which 
in  the  Oriental  stands  in  least  need  of  being 
stimulated.  A  unique  chance  to  uplift, 
to  spiritualise  was  lost.  On  the  contrary, 
it  was  turned  into  a  unique  means  of 
standardising  the  low  level  at  which 

1  See  Appendix  to  this  chapter. 


What  is  It?  153 

ordinary   fallen   human   nature   is   all   too 
content  to  live. 

The  imagery  of  Hell,  Jehannam,  is 
similarly  material,  and  its  elaborate  and 
terrible  details  are  intended  to  be  inter 
preted  in  a  strictly  material  sense. 

All  the  descriptions  of  both  Heaven 
and  Hell,  the  Intermediate  State,  Re 
surrection,  and  Judgment  are,  then, 
thoroughly  and  frankly  materialistic. 
They  are  also  curiously  circumstantial ; 
details,  into  which  it  is  totally  unnecessary 
to  enter  here,  being  multiplied  to  an 
extent  which  really  robs  the  subject  of 
its  awe — even  of  its  dignity.  It  is  fair 
to  say  that  for  a  great  many  of  all  these 
defects  the  Koran  itself  is  less  responsible 
than  the  Traditions.  But  it  was  the  Koran 
that  set  the  tone  in  a  way  that  was  all  too 
unmistakable ;  and  the  true  Traditions 
more  than  confirmed  that  which  the  Koran 
suggested. 

How   shall   Allah,    so   remote   or   rather  Relation 
so  totally  and  essentially  "  different  "  from  £STmS 
man,  nevertheless  reach  man  ?     What  link 
can  He  forge  ? 

The  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  shows  how  Supernatural 
in  St  Paul's  day  the  question  was  answered  Angds,~Jinn 

F  *  etc. 


154      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

by  some  who  believed  in  an  infinite  de 
scending  series  of  grades  of  spiritual  beings 
thus  connecting  at  last  God  and  Man. 
And  Mohammedanism  may  be  said  to  have 
gone  a  little  way  in  that  direction  by  the 
importance  it  has  attached  to  the  doctrine 
of  an  angelic  hierarchy,  the  chamberlains 
of  the  Heavenly  Monarch ;  and  by  its 
explicit  belief  in  regular  organised  hosts 
of  jinns — demi-supernatural  beings  of  un 
certain  spiritual  temper  and  spiritual 
location.  Belief  in  these  beings  is  obli 
gatory,  for  they  appear  prominently  in  the 
Koran  ;  and  charms  for  the  evasion  of  the 
more  malign  influences  of  the  mediate 
spiritual  world  are  also  mentioned  in  its 
pages  and  are  therefore  de  fide. 

That  the  Moslem  mind  has  rested,  and 
does  rest,  on  its  journey  to  God,  and  has 
often  given  its  real  allegiance  to  the  creature 
rather  than  the  Creator,  is  plain  from  the 
immense  development  to  which  tradition 
and  popular  superstition  have  treated  this 
intermediate  spiritual  kingdom.  There  is 
often  found  in  even  orthodox  Islam  a  sys 
tem  of  what  is  practically  saint- worship. 
The  spirits  of  great  saints  are  vaguely 
supposed  to  linger  about  their  tombs ; 


What  is  It?  155 

their  intercession  is  continually  claimed 
with  God,  and  their  protective  powers  are 
ardently  invoked.  Notre  Dame  de  la  So- 
and-So  is  not  more  devoutly  worshipped, 
more  dearly  prized,  or  more  truly  assigned 
the  virtual  functions  of  God  by  the  Roman 
Catholic,  than  are  some  of  the  great  saints 
(Walls)  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  The 
present  writer  saw  the  Khedive  of  Egypt 
make  a  special  journey  to  pray  at  the  tomb 
of  the  Sheikh  of  Abukir,  a  noted  pro 
tector  of  those  going  a  sea-voyage.  The 
accepted  explanation  was  that  he  was  giv 
ing  thanks  for  the  Saint's  protection  on  a 
recent  occasion  at  sea.  .  .  .  At  Cairo  you 
may  see  men  praying  at  the  city  gate 
where  the  departed  spirit  of  a  certain 
mighty  Wall  is  supposed  to  linger  ;  hanging 
teeth,  bits  of  rag,  or  other  souvenirs,  to 
keep  the  owners  thereof  before  his  exalted 
mind.  And  the  same  sort  of  thing  goes 
on  all  over  the  Mohammedan  world,  some 
times  reaching  very  degraded  depths  of 
pure  superstition.  As  for  relic- worship  or 
relic-reverence,  we  heard  of  the  Khalifa 
lately  praying  at  the  shrine  where  are 
preserved  the  bones  of  the  Prophet.  The 
men  of  Cairo  mob  the  "  carpet "  that 


156      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

is  sent  annually  to  Mecca  to  cover 
the  Kaaba,  seeking-  to  touch  it  for  the 
blessing  that  it  communicates.  After  it 
is  finished  with,  fragments  and  scraps  of 
it  become  relics,  blessing  the  very  house 
in  which  they  are  stored.  .  .  .  All  these 
practices  and  engrafted  acts  of  devotion 
are  condemned  by  modern  reformers  of 
the  cAbd  el  Wahhab  or  puritan  type,  and 
such  men  indignantly  assert  that  they  are 
a  corruption  of  Islam.  But  orthodox  ex 
ample  and  Koranic  precept  can  generally  be 
found  for  them — the  whole  system  of  Walis 
for  example  is  defended  on  the  score  of  one 
text  in  the. Koran.  And  after  all,  what 
can  be  effectually  said,  when  the  very 
earthly  centre  of  the  religion  itself  is  a 
sacred  Black  Stone,  which  aforetime  was 
a  fetish  pure  and  simple,  and  is  to  this 
day  paid  the  same  outward  honour  as 
it  was  before,  in  act,  and  rite,  and  posture, 
by  all  Moslems  whatsoever,  following  the 
example  and  the  express  command  of  the 
Founder  ? 

But  far  the  most  important  conception 
of  Islam  in  respect  to  the  nexus  between 
God  and  Man  is  the  Prophet  (or  Apostle) 
with  his  inspired  Book.  The  root  of  the 


What  is  It?  157 

Arabic  word  for  prophet  means  to  tell 
clearly  about  the  unseen ;  the  word  for 
apostle  signifies,  like  the  English  word  itself, 
one  sent.  Many  of  the  thousands  of 
prophets  who,  according  to  the  beliefs  of 
Islam,  were  sent  in  times  past  into  the  world, 
were  given  no  "  Book."  Their  work  was 
to  warn,  and  their  inspiration  was  general. 
But  the  greater  ones  were  inspired  with 
"  Books,"  yet  the  majority  of  these  also 
perished,  superseded  by  the  four  great 
revelations,  the  Tourah  given  to  Moses, 
the  Zabvir  to  David,  the  Injil  to  Jesus,  and 
the  Koran  to  Mohammed.  The  three 
former  have,  according  to  Moslems,  though 
not  according  to  Mohammed  or  the  Koran, 
been  hopelessly  corrupted  by  Jews  and 
Christians  alike ;  when,  where,  why,  or 
by  whom  is  not  clear :  in  any  case  the 
Koran  stands  out  as  being  the  last  and 
greatest,  virtually  superseding  all  that  had 
gone  before,  even  as  Mohammed  as  prophet 
surpasses  all  his  predecessors,  and  closes 
the  line  of  prophets,  until  Jesus  flsa) 
come  again,  followed  by  El  Mahdi,  and 
ushering  in  the  end  of  the  World. 

Now  we  come  to  the  interesting  and  im-  The  Koran, 
portant  point  connected  with  the  Koran, 


158      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

considered  as  the  perfected  type  of  Revela 
tion.  It  is  considered  to  have  been  eternal 
and  uncreate  ;  to  have  been  carried  down 
by  angels  from  the  Highest  Heaven  to  the 
Lowest  on  the  Night  of  Power,  and  from 
thence  to  have  been  "  brought  down  "  by 
Gabriel  piecemeal  to  (Arabic  "  upon ") 
Mohammed  in  the  revelations  that  came 
to  him.  The  prophet  was  purely  passive 
—indeed  unconscious  :  the  Book  was  in 
no  sense  his,  neither  its  thought,  nor 
language,  nor  style :  all  was  of  God,  and 
the  Prophet  was  merely  a  recording  pen. 
The  whole  of  the  contents  of  the  Koran 
from  the  sublimest  doctrine  down  to  the 
most  trivial  command  (abrogated  perhaps, 
a  week  or  two  after  it  was  revealed,  by 
another) ;  from  the  passage  describing  the 
ineffableness  of  God  down  to  the  passage 
authorising  Mohammed's  marriage  with  the 
divorced  wife  of  his  adopted  son  : — all  is 
equally,  in  kind  and  in  degree,  inspired 
and  eternal  and  Divine.  The  word  of  God 
was  in  fact  a  Book,  limited,  it  would  seem, 
in  quantity  to  the  contents  of  this  Koran, 
and  communicated  to  Mankind  through 
an  unconscious  prophet  by  the  hand  of 
an  angel.  Such  is  Islam's  main  solution 


What  is  It?  159 

of  the  problem,  how  did  the  Infinite  God 
project  Himself  into  the  ken  of  finite  man  ? 
. . .  The  contrast  between  this  doctrine  of  the 
Logos  of  Islam  and  the  Logos  of  the  Gospel 
furnishes  food  for  very  abundant  thought. 

The  puritans  of  Islam  have  made  frequent  The  four 
attempts  to  make  the  Koran  the  sole  source 
of  religious  knowledge,  and  to  find  in  it  all 
that  is  necessary  not  only  for  salvation 
in  the  next  world,  but  for  moral,  social, 
and  political  guidance  in  this  world  also. 
But  the  historical  evolution  of  Islam  did 
not  find  the  book  sufficient  for  such  an 
enormous  programme.  In  elaborating  a 
system  that  should  cover  the  whole  of  life 
down  to  the  proper  way  of  cutting  a  water 
melon,  it  was  found  absolutely  necessary 
to  accumulate  more  data  to  work  on.  The 
sanctity  and  the  moral  perfection  ascribed 
to  the  Prophet  soon  supplied,  in  his  re 
corded  acts,  conversations,  and  decisions, 
a  vast  amount  of  additional  material,  to 
which  was  attributed  an  inspiration  virtu 
ally,  though  not  theoretically,  equal  to 
that  of  the  Book  itself  :  so  that  to  the 
first  great  "  Pillar "  of  Islam  (the  Koran) 
was  added  a  second,  Tradition.  The  third 
was  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  con- 


160      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

temporaries  of  the  Prophet  (Consensus). 
The  fourth  Pillar  was  Analogical  Deduction 
from  the  statements  or  judgments  afforded 
by  all  those  sources. 

And  thus  was  gradually  evolved  and 
elaborated  the  most  colossal  system  which 
the  world  has  ever  seen  or  will  see, 
more  gigantic  than  even  the  system  of 
Rabbinical  Judaism  which  affords  a  par 
allel  to  it  on  so  many  points.  For  Islam 
being  intrinsically  a  theocracy,  religion 
covers  all  the  functions  of  the  state,  and  by 
the  state  its  infinite  decrees  are  enforced. 
Caesar  vanishes  and  God  is  all  in  all :  the 
sword  of  Ca?sar  is  the  sword  of  Allah. 

Finally  this  whole  mass  of  statute, 
tradition,  custom  and  analogy,  was  reduced, 
amplified,  and  stereotyped  by  the  four 
great  orthodox  systematisers,  who  between 
them  divide  the  allegiance  of  the  whole  of 
orthodox  (Sunni)  Islam.  (See  Appendix  F.) 

It  follows  from  all  that  has  been  said— 
whether  of  the  Moslem  conception  of  God, 
or  of  His  relation  and  revelation  to  man, 
or  of  man  himself — that  the  Moslem  con- 

1  Islam  divides  religion  into  two  parts:  belief  (all  that 
has  to  do  with  creed),  and  practice  (all  that  has  to  do  witli 
religious  duty — din. 


, 


MOSLEM    ABLUTIONS 


What  is  It?  161 

ception  of  the  practical  side  of  religion  is  the 
performance  of  certain  well-defined  duties. 

The  most  important  of  those  are  authori 
tatively  limited  to  five: — (1)  prayer — at 
the  stated  times,  after  the  prescribed  lan 
guage,  form,  and  manner  (genuflections, 
prostrations,  etc.),  and  preceded  by  the 
prescribed  purifications  and  ablutions, 
the  details  of  which  are  far  too  numer 
ous  to  mention — they  all  concern  bodily 
purity  and  all  involve  the  ceremonial  use 
of  water.  (2)  Alms — given  according  to 
well-defined  rules.  (3)  Fasting — according 
to  a  strictly  determined  system,  viz. : 
total  abstention  from  sunrise  to  sunset 
during  the  month  of  Ramadan.  (4)  The 
Pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  including  the  elabo 
rate  and  minute  ritual  performed  on  arrival 
at  the  sacred  site.  (5)  The  Holy  War  (the 
last  is  not  included  by  some  doctors,  and 
its  stringency  is  in  any  case  discounted 
by  a  host  of  "  considerations  "). 

In  Egypt,   Mohammedans,   at  any  rate  Performance  of 
in  the  country  districts,  are  very  punctual  dutlesT 
in  the  performance  of  their  religious  duties. (l)  Prayer- 
Every  one  must  needs  be  struck  by  the 
spectacle    of    the    long    ordered    rows    of 
Moslems  at  united  prayer  in  the  mosques, 


1 62      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

or  of  individual  worshippers  in  field,  or  city. 
The  air  of  quiet,  of  total  absorption  in  the 
devotional  task,  and  entire  aloofness  from 
their  circumstances  is  most  striking. 

Looking  around  from  an  eminence  one 
day  in  Cairo,  the  writer  saw  down  into  the 
interior  of  the  open  court  of  a  mosque  far 
beneath.  It  was  the  hour  of  mid-after 
noon  prayer,  and  the  little  company  were 
standing,  bowing,  kneeling,  prostrating 
together  in  two  or  three  short  rows,  with 
that  strange  machine-like  precision  that 
accompanies  Moslem  worship.  Their  leader 
was  the  Sheikh  of  the  mosque,  in  the  usual 
flowing  robes ;  behind  him,  an  effendi 
(native  gentleman)  in  black  frock  coat 
worshipped  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  a 
coarsely  clad  workman  from  the  streets  ; 
further  on  were  a  negro  from  the  Sudan, 
an  old  middle- class  merchant,  and  one  or 
two  young  lads.  .  .  .  The  concerted  move 
ments  went  steadily  on  till  the  end  ;  the 
Recording  Angels  at  right  and  at  left  were 
saluted  by  the  swift  turn  of  the  head  to 
wards  each  shoulder ;  and  the  group 
broke  up,  and  resuming  slipper,  shoe,  or 
elastic-sided  boot  went  their  several  ways. 
Thus  and  not  otherwise  has  that  afternoon 


What  is  It?  163 

"  hour "  been  performed  for  thirteen 
centuries ;  thus,  without  a  hairsbreadth 
of  deviation,  will  it  be  performed  while 
Islam  itself  shall  last. 

Or  the  solitary  worshipper.  .  .  .  Walk 
ing  one  day  on  the  beach  twelve  miles 
east  of  Alexandria  over  the  very  site  of 
Canopus  of  old,  one  who  had  strayed  there 
saw  a  poor  fisherman  casting  a  line  into  the 
sea,  and,  after  a  lucky  cast,  hauling  out  a 
large  fish.  When  next  he  looked,  the 
man  was  prostrating  himself  towards 
Mecca  !  l  The  beach  was  utterly  deserted. 
There,  on  the  site  of  the  riotous  luxury  of 
that  dead  Graeco -Roman  world,  where 
the  sand  was  choking  the  mosaic  floors 
of  their  villas,  and  the  sea  flooding  the 
baths  and  fish-ponds  cut  for  them  out 
of  the  living  rock,  that  poor  fisherman  in 
his  one  ragged  blue  garment  was  pros 
trating  himself  before  Allah — the  one 
solitary  figure  on  that  desolate  coast,  along 
which  no  longer  echoed  any  voice  save 
that  of  the  singing  of  the  north  wind  and 
the  breaking  of  the  Mediterranean  surf 
along  the  shore. 

1  This  is,  indeed,  a  custom  with  the  fisher-folk— after  a 
catch >  a  prayer. 


164      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

And  other  like  solitary  worshippers  may 
be  seen  in  the  many-mansioned  House  of 
Islam,  camel-driver  in  the  desert,  fellah  in 
the  boundless  arable  lands  of  the  delta,  boat 
man  on  sailing,  porter  on  a  bench  in  rail 
way-station,  portier  in  his  lodge  at  the 
foot  of  the  common-stair,  wayfarer  by  the 
way-side.  .  .  .  No  one  takes  any  notice 
of  the  sight,  or  calls  attention  to  it. 
Neither  in  passer-by  nor  in  worshipper  is 
there  any  embarrassment  or  surprise. 

The  exact  and  complicated  formulae  of 
movements  and  of  words  have  to  be 
taught  to  little  Moslem  lads  with  much 
care.  It  is  late  in  the  evening  in  a  back 
street  in  a  provincial  town, — the  day's 
work  is  over,  but  one  of  the  Oriental 
shops  is  still  unshuttered.  The  owner, 
a  merchant  in  silken  robe,  is  giving  his 
little  boy  some  practice  in  the  art  of  prayer. 
Down  he  ducks  his  little  body,  collapses 
on  to  his  knees,  rises  up  again  without 
changing  the  position  of  his  toes.  .  .  .  The 
little  fellow  is  giggling,  as  small  boys  do 
when  they  are  being  taught  some  new  feat. 

Unauthorised  devotions  of  a  less  regular 
order  are  very  popular  in  Egypt,  as  they 
are  all  over  the  House  of  Islam.  At  that 


What  is  It?  165 

great  city  gate  a  man  is  bowing  his  head, 
resting  his  brow  on  the  huge  nails  that 
stud  the  wood-work  :  he  is,  very  clearly, 
pouring  out  his  heart  to  the  saint  whose 
spirit  lurks  behind  the  door.  He  is  an 
ignorant  fellow,  perhaps  :  but  that  other 
one  is  dressed  in  Azhar  robes.  He  is  a 
Sheikh,  and  he  is  fixing  on  to  one  of  the 
iron  studs  a  twist  of  cotton  which  may 
recall  him  to  the  mind  of  the  saint.  .  .  . 

Almsgiving,  as  well  as  prayer,  is  a  duty.  (2)  Almsgiving. 
How  often,  at  some  halt  of  the  tramway, 
you  see  a  beggar  pass  along  by  the  car. 
He  passes  an  effendi — there  is  a  quick 
movement  towards  the  waist- coat  pocket, 
from  whence  a  minute  coin  is  transferred 
into  the  twisted  palm  of  the  maimed  object 
beneath.  You  may  look  narrowly,  but 
you  shall  see  neither  the  light  of  interest 
nor  sympathy  in  the  eye  of  the  donor,  nor 
of  gratitude  or  even  pleasure  in  the  eye  of 
the  recipient.  Each  is  a  necessary  feature 
in  the  act,  the  real  interest  of  which  for 
the  donor  lies  in  the  merit  added  thereby 
to  his  credit  column  in  the  future  life.1 

The  month  of  the  fast  is  a  phenomenon  (3)  Fasting, 
that  forces  itself  on  the  attention  of  every 

1  Lane,  p.  2(>;3. 


1 66      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

one  in  a  Moslem  land.  The  gun  is  fired 
at  sunset,  the  little  gamins  raise  a  shout 
(not  that  they  have  been  fasting  all  day  !), 
and  the  world  of  Islam  addresses  itself  to 
the  genial  dissipations  of  a  Ramadan  night, 
the  month  of  fast  whose  nights  are  the 
j  oiliest  in  the  year.  More  is  spent  on  meat 
and  drink  and  clothes  during  the  month 
of  fast  than  any  other,  and  it  is  a  high  time 
for  merchants  and  tradespeople.  Not  so 
good  a  time  is  it  for  employers  or  teachers 
in  the  schools  ;  for  very  sleepy  and  sulky- 
tempered  is  the  fasting  Mohammedan  liable 
to  be — and  no  wonder,  for  the  terrible 
privation  of  a  summer  Ramadan,  when 
during  the  burning  day  no  drop  of  water 
must  pass  the  lips',  must  be  an  awful  trial. 
And  there  is  always  the  upset  given  to  the 
digestive  system  because  of  having  to  eat 
thrice  betwixt  sunset  and  dawn,  with 
broken  sleep  in  between. 

These  duties,  with  Confession  of  the  short 
Moslem  creed,  make  up  the  whole  Duty 
of  Man  in  this  sense,  that  the  doer  of  these 
things  shall  live  by  them  to  all  eternity. 
But  we  have  already  seen  how  every  sphere 
of  life  and  duty  is  determined  by  the  laws 
laid  down  by  the  sacred  system.  To 


What  is  It?  167 

attempt  to  describe  these  is  of  course 
impossible.  All  we  can  do  here  is  to 
summarise. 

The  Moslem,  we  may  say,  divides  ethical 
practice  into  three  parts,  what  must  be 
done,  what  may  be  done,  and  what  may  not 
be  done  :  what  is  enjoined,  permitted,  and 
forbidden.  Statutes  define  the  limits  of 
his  actions  on  each  side — e.g.  he  may 
have  four  wives  at  once,  but  not  five. 
And  statutes  also  prescribe  the  punish 
ments  which  are  merited  by  the  various 
possible  violations  of  the  statutes.  In  a 
word,  religion  takes  over  the  functions  of 
the  law-court  or  police-court,  and  identi 
fies  its  functions  with  theirs.  This  theo 
retically  only ;  for  in  practice  every  ruler 
has  found  himself  compelled  to  add  to  this 
Shariat  or  sacred  law,  and  to  place  along 
side  of  it  a  body  of  administrative  decrees, 
i.e.  civil  law.  But  the  strict  Moslem  in  his 
heart  of  hearts  thinks  that  the  Shariat  is 
sufficient  or  ought  to  be  made  so,  and 
that  these  man-made  institutions  are 
kufr,  or  unbelief.  In  either  case  morality 
becomes  identified  with  law :  on  earth 
the  punishment  obliterates  the  crime : 
and  in  heaven,  good  and  evil  deeds  are 


1 68      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

carefully  computed,  like  credit  and  debit 
columns,  some  sins  being  "  great,"  and 
others  ;4  little,"  and  assessment  being- 
made  according  to  value  :  as  the  bal 
ance  inclines,  so  is  the  fate  of  the  soul. 
No  true  Moslem,  however,  even  if  his 
balance  is  to  the  bad,  will  be  condemned 
to  the  eternal  fire,  but  only  to  the  purga 
torial  flame  for  a  season ;  his  "  faith," 
provided  it  be  intellectually  genuine,  saves 
him ;  while  they  who  are  without  that 
"  faith "  are  without  the  one  work,  the 
absence  of  which  cannot  be  balanced  by  all 
other  good  works  soever.  The  only  in 
efficacious  faith  recognised  by  Islam  is  that 
which  is  outwardly  professed,  but  definitely 
denied  in  the  heart  of  the  professor. 
Ethical  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Mohammedanism 

is?amnCy°f  m  ^s  wn°le  tendency  opposes  statute  to 
principle ;  isolated  acts,  to  attitude  of  soul. 
We  need  not  elaborate  the  ethical  results 
that  flow  naturally  from  this  attitude  of 
mind.  The  New  Testament  is  the  text 
book  for  such  a  study.  Yet  we  know  how 
a  strict  enumeration  of  the  obligations 
and  conditions  of  almsgiving  will  not  tend 
to  produce  liberality ;  how  a  clearly  defined 
marriage-law  will  not  produce  purity ;  how 


What  is  It?  169 

a  complicated  code  will  not  produce  jus 
tice  ;  how  individual  prohibitions,  like  that 
against  wine  for  example,  will  not  produce 
temperance ;  nor  like  that  against  the  tak 
ing  of  interest,  cure  the  spirit  of  greed ; 
and  how  all  taken  together  will  not  produce 
the  spirit  needed.  Life  and  spirit  alone  can 
beget  life  and  spirit. 

In  spite  of  this  Islam  has  produced  its 
saints  whose  love  for  the  law  rose  to  a  love 
for  Allah,  and  for  whom  therefore  the 
dispensation  of  spirit  was  in  principle 
present. 

But  it  is  the  tendency  we  are  studying, 
and  the  claim  of  two  religions  to  be  the 
Universal  Religion  for  the  human  spirit. 
Can  a  religion  of  Ordinances  and  an 
ordinance -giving  Ruler  be  the  last  and 
latest  word  of  God  to  man,  the  universal 
religion  for  the  human  race  ? 

Islam,   then,   is   not   merely   a  personal  Social  system 
religion ;     nor    on    the    other    hand    is    it oi 
merely    a    political    system.      But    much 
more  is   it,   like  Brahmanism    and    some 
other     faiths,     a     great     social     system, 
woven    into    a    texture,    compacted    into 
a  fabric,  which   covers   the   whole  life   of 
an    individual    from    the    cradle    to    the 


1 70      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

grave.  According  to  that  system  his 
parents  were  married,  according  to  it  he 
is  born  and  reared  ;  circumcised  ;  educated 
(if  he  is  educated)  at  village  school  in  the 
village  mosque ;  at  collegiate  mosque  in 
Cairo  or  Damascus  or  Lucknow ;  grows 
up,  marries,  has  children,  divorces  ;  lives 
his  domestic  life,  conducts  his  business ; 
settles  his  disputes  at  the  Cadi's  court ;  l  is 
punished  if  he  offends  ;  thinks,  acts,  prays, 
fasts,  reads,  studies,  philosophises — for  the 
vast  literature  of  Islam  is  sufficient  to 
monopolise  his  attention  and  limit  his 
horizon  all  his  days — makes  his  will,  and 
disposes  of  his  property ;  dies,  is  buried, 
and  is  prayed  for  (it  may  be)  in  his  little 
domed  tomb-mosque,  for  ages  and  ages,2 
until  .  .  . 

Until  what  ?  To  the  natural  under 
standing  it  seems  utterly  impossible  that 
that  until  shall  ever  have  an  ending  "  until 
He  come."  But  the  eye  of  faith  has  also  its 
vision,  and  the  prophecy  on  the  Church 
Mosque  of  Damascus  still  stands. 
Conclusion.  Our  survey  is  finished  :  it  cannot  how- 

1  In  so  far  as  that  court  has  not  been  encroached  on  by 
civil  "  unauthorised"  ones. 

2  If  he  leaves  a  sufficient  sum,  the  interest  of  which 
may  be  expended  on  this  purpose. 


What  is  It?  171 

ever  be  hoped  that  any  such  survey  shall 
commend  itself  to  all  as  completely  just, 
or  as  giving  a  complete  and  a  fair  impression 
of  the  system  itself.  We  therefore  close 
with  one  observation  that  will  hardly  fail  to 
command  assent,  even  of  the  Moslem  reader 
who  may  chance  to  read  these  pages  :  Islam 
and  Christianity  are  incompatible ;  they 
are  different  in  ethos,  in  aim,  in  scope,  in 
sympathy.  Islam  is  the  later  born.  If 
then  it  is  not,  as  it  claims,  a  definite  advance 
on  Christianity,  or  rather  a  correction  of 
the  latter's  corruption,  then  it  is  as  de 
finitely  retrograde.  If,  in  its  very  con 
stitution,  it  is  unfitted  to  be  the  universal 
religion,  because  only  a  religion  in  which 
Spirit  is  supreme  and  fundamental,  and 
rite  definitely  subordinate  to  Spirit,  can  be 
universal,  then  the  religion  of  Christ  is  the 
universal  religion.  BUT  if  so,  then  that 
religion,  as  preached  to  the  Mohammedan, 
must  indeed  be  a  religion  of  Spirit,  of  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus.  We  have  nothing  else  to 
give  them.  Most  futile,  most  disappoint 
ing,  and  most  foolish  of  all  quests  would  be 
that  which  were  only  to  seek  to  substitute 
for  one  ritual  another,  for  one  system  an 
other  system,  for  devotion  to  one  series 


172      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

of  ordinances  another  series.  Christianity 
has  always  cut  its  most  pitiful  figure  when 
seen  trying  to  meet  Islam  with  Islam's 
weapons,  or  competing  with  it  on  its  own 
ground.  Nothing  but  the  Spirit  can  bind 
and  free  Islam.  Let  the  Church  that  does 
not  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  save  herself 
the  trouble  of  attempting  the  conversion  of 
Islam.  The  Spirit  of  the  Father  in  Jesus 
Christ — we  have  nothing  else  to  give  Islam  : 
no,  NOTHING  !  We  owe  to  that  great  host 
that  follows  the  great  Mohammed  the 
realisation,  final  and  definitive,  that  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  is  the  ONLY  asset  of  the 
Church. 


QUESTIONS  ON  CHAPTER  IV 

1.  By  what  process  do  you  consider  that  Moham 
med  passed  to  his  belief  in  Allah  ? 

2.  What    are    the    seven    primary    attributes    of 
Allah  in  the  Koran  ?     Comment  on  the  meaning  of 
the  last  three. 

3.  Explain  the  fact  that  the  Mohammedan  con 
ception  of  a  living  GOD  that  wills  and  acts  contradicts 
the  conception  of  (l)  GOD  as  Love. 

(2)  GOD  as  Holiness. 

4.  Explain  the  fact  that  Mohammedans  as  a  rule 
have  no  deep  conception  of  the  sinfulness  of  sin. 

5.  What  does  Islam  teach  of  a  future  life  ? 


What  is  It?  173 

6.  How  does   Islam  attempt  to  bridge  the  gulf 
between  GOD  and  man  ? 

7.  What  is  meant  by  the  Four  Pillars  of  Islam  ? 

8.  What  practical  duties  are  enjoined  by  Islam  ? 
How   far  does    their   performance    tend    to    mould 
character  ?     Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

DALE,  G. — Contrast  between  Christianity  and  Mo 
hammedanism. 

KLEIN,  F.  A. — The  Religion  of  Islam. 

Mum,  Sir  W. — The  Koran :  its  composition  and 
teaching. 

SALE,  G. —  Koran  :  Introduction. 

SELL,  E. — The  Faith  of  Islam. 

PALMER — Koran  (for  text). 

HUGHES,  T.  P. — Dictionary  of  Islam,  various  articles. 


CHAPTER  V 


Problem. 


Difficulty  of 
problem. 


HOW   WORKS    IT  ? 

HAVING  seen  what  this  Islam  is,  it  is 
natural  to  ask  :  What  does  it  do  ?,  How 
does  it  work  ?,  in  the  lands  to  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  it  has  succeeded  in  spreading. 
Now  this  is  a  subject  which,  in  the  nature 
of  it,  is  by  no  means  an  easy  one.  Why 
it  is  not  easy  may  best  be  realised  by 
imagining  a  counter- question  :  How  does 
the  Christian  religion  work  in  the  coun 
tries  to  which  Christianity  has  spread  ? 
Immediately  difficulties  would  arise  as  to 
whether  this  or  that  form  of  Christianity 
was  really  Christian  at  all,  and  if  it  was  not, 
or  if  it  was  seriously  divergent  from  the 
religion  of  Christ's  Spirit,  whether  its 
results  could  fairly  be  taken  as  typical. 
Or  again,  there  would  be  controversies  as  to 
whether  certain  effects  observed  in  Chris 
tian  countries  were  attributable  to  religion 
or  to  other  causes,  or  yet  again  to  Christi 
anity  indirectly,  rather  than  directly. 


174 


How  Works  It?  175 

In  the  face  of  such  difficulties  the  lover 
of  exact  truth  might  almost  decline  to 
undertake  the  task,  so  difficult  is  it  to 
disentangle  social  causes  and  effects,  so 
easy  is  it  to  make  disingenuous  generalisa 
tions,  so  easy  to  prove  to  one  who  is 
already  convinced  what  he  wants  to  be 
proved,  so  difficult  to  demonstrate  the 
same  thing  to  one  who  is  indifferent  or 
hostile.  It  is  common  in  the  East  to  come 
across  attacks  on  Christianity,  in  which 
all  the  defects  and  failures  of  the  civilisa 
tion  of  Christendom  are  attributed  to  the 
Christian  religion,  and  all  its  successes  to 
secular  causes.  Equally  inevitably,  the 
backwardness  of  Islamic  countries  is  at 
tributed  to  secular  causes,  and  all  the  good 
to  be  found  in  the  world  of  Islam,  past  or 
present,  to  the  religion  itself. 

On  the  whole,  however,  it  is  more  feasible 
to  learn  the  effect  of  Islam  than  of  most 
other  religions  :  Islam  is  not  merely  a 
religion,  but  is  also — and  this  is  one  of 
its  own  proudest  boasts — a^  great  social 
system.  As  we  have  seen,  the  religious, 
political,  and  social  elements  are  literally 
one  and  inseparable.  In  countries,  there 
fore,  where  Islam  is  supreme,  it  is  fairly  just 


176      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

to  attribute  observed  results,  on  the  whole, 
to  Islam  itself  as  cajuse.  In  other  words, 
in  the  world  of  Islam  religion  does  work 
directly. 

Arabia  If  Islam  were  to  be  judged  by  the  moral 

and  social  state  of  Arabia,  the  country  of 
its  birth,  the  land  where  it  has  had  sole, 
exclusive,  and  all-inclusive  sway,  it  would 
indeed  stand  condemned.  Not  even  the 
Moslem  can  take  any  pride  in  the  state 
of  the  Arabian  Peninsula,  and  the 
Hejaz,  with  the  Holy  Cities  of  Mecca  and 
El  Medina,  in  particular.  Unenlightened, 
backward,  semi-barbarous,  infested  with 
bandits,  the  land  as  a  whole  presents  the 
picture  of  a  country  lamentably  low  in  the 
social  scale.  And  if  it  be  said  that  Arabia  is 
isolated  and  has  not  had  the  advantage  of 
being  in  the  main  current  of  world- civilisa 
tion,  the  reply  must  be,  "  By  whom,  and 
wherefore  was  it  so  isolated  ?  "  Has  it 
not  been  most  carefully  and  deliberately 
isolated  by  the  express  decree  of  Mohammed 
himself,  faithfully  and  enthusiastically 
obeyed  by  his  followers  ?  So  that  to  this 
day  a  Christian  is  in  danger  of  his  life  if  he 
travels  in  the  country,  and  will  certainly  for 
feit  it,  if  he  is  found  in  Mecca  or  El  Medina. 


How  Works  It?  177 

Arabia  is  still  a  centre  of  the  slave  trade,  (i)  Slavery. 
The  attitude  of  Islam  to  slavery  is  a  very 
good  example  of  how  that  religion,  in  pre 
scribing  humanitarian  regulations  in  order 
to  palliate  a  bad  custom,  necessarily  recog 
nises  that  custom,  and  recognising  it 
permits  it,  and  permitting  virtually  com 
mands  it,  at  least  in  the  sense  of  making 
its  absolute  prohibition  illegal  and  im 
pious.  Slavery  can  never  be  really  pro 
hibited  by  Mohammedans,  for  the  sacred 
law  allows  it,  and  so  sanctions  it  for 
ever. 

The  theory  of  the  Jehad,  too,  gives  an 
apparently  irrefutable  sanction  to  slave- 
raiding.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the 
scoundrels  who  raid  the  tribes  in  the  in 
terior  of  Africa  could  be  condemned  on 
Mohammedan  principles.  "  Are  not  these 
tribes  idolaters  ?  "  They  are.  "  Does  not 
the  Koran  command  incessant  war  against 
all  idolaters?"  It  does.  "And  did  it 
make  in  their  favour  any  of  the  merciful 
reservations  that  were  made  in  favour  of 
Christians  and  Jews  ?  "  It  did  not.  "  And 
are  not  our  raids  war  ?  '  They  are.  "  And 
may  we  not  kill,  or  keep  alive  the  men,  and 
make  slave- concubines  of  the  women,  as  is 


178      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

explicitly  prescribed  in  a  hundred  Koranic 
texts?''     You  may.   .   .   . 

So  the  last  link  in  this  chain  of  logic  is 
the  slave-markets  that  exist  all  over  the 
Moslem  world,  except  where  European 
influence  makes  them  impossible.  Read 
what  the  unimpeachable  Doughty  says  of 
Jiddah,  the  port  of  Arabia. 

"  Jiddah  is  the  staple  town  of  African  slavery  for 
the  Turkish  Empire ;  Jiddah,  where  are  Frankisli 
consuls.  But  you  shall  find  these  worthies  in 
the  pallid  solitude  of  their  palaces,  affecting  the 
simplicity  of  new  -  born  babes ;  they  will  tell 
you  they  are  not  aware  of  it !  .  .  .  But  I 
say  again  in  your  ingenuous  ears,  Jiddah  is  the 
staple  town  of  the  Turkish  slavery,  or  all  the 
Moslems  are  liars.  ...  I  told  them  we  had  a 
treaty  with  the  Sultan  to  suppress  slavery.  '  Dog/ 
cries  the  fellow, '  thou  liar  ! — are  there  not  thousands 
of  slaves  at  Jiddah  that  every  day  are  bought  and 
sold?'"* 

(2)  Pilgrimage.  Every  year  the  pilgrimage 2  flows  through 
Arabia  converging  on  the  favoured  city  of 
Mecca.  It  is  one  of  the  strongest  bonds 
of  union  among  Moslems,  and  has  great 
influence  in  spreading  missionary  zeal. 
Thousands  of  zealous  Moslems,  from  all 


1  "  Arabia  Deserta,"  vol.  ii.,  last  chapter. 

2  Cf.  Zwemer's  "  Jslam,"  pp.  109-113. 


How  Works  It?  179 

over  the  House  of  Islam,  throng  to  this 
holy  spot,  the  magnetic  centre  of  the 
Mohammedan  world.  The  pilgrim  is,  how 
ever,  lucky  if  he  only  loses  his  money,  in  a 
town  where  through  filth  and  disease  he 
may  lose  his  life,  or  through  the  immor 
ality  that  is  shamelessly  and  openly  prac 
tised  he  may  lose  his  soul.  Many  a  Moslem 
has  left  the  holy  city  sick  at  heart ! 

Read  the  following  account  of  the  Moslem 
Hadji  Khan,  of  the  slave  market  at  Mecca 
in  1902, — an  open  slave  market  near  the 
House  of  God  itself l : — 

"  Go  there  and  see  for  yourself  the  condition  of 
the  human  chattels  you  purchase.  You  will  find 
them,  thanks  to  the  vigilance  of  British  cruisers, 
less  numerous  and  consequently  more  expensive 
than  they  were  in  former  years  ;  but  there  they  are, 
flung  pell-mell  in  the  open  square.  .  .  .  The  dealer 
standing  by,  cried  out  :  '  Come  and  buy  ;  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  season,  delicate,  fresh,  and  green ; 
come  and  buy,  strong  and  useful,  faithful  and 
honest.  Come  and  buy.'  The  day  of  sacrifice  was 
past,  and  the  richer  pilgrims  in  their  brightest  robes 
gathered  around.  One  among  them  singled  out  the 
girl.  They  entered  a  booth  together.  The  mother 
was  left  behind.  One  word  she  uttered,  or  was  it  a 
moan  of  inarticulate  grief?  Soon  after  the  girl  came 
back.  And  the  dealer,  when  the  bargain  was  over, 

1  Hadji  Khaii  "  With  the  Pilgrims  to  Mecca." 


i8o      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

said  to  the  purchaser  :  e  I  sell  you  this  property  of 
mine,  the  female  slave  Narcissus,  for  the  sum  of 
forty  pounds.'  Thus  the  bargain  was  clinched.  .  .  . 
Men  slaves  could  be  bought  for  sums  varying  from 
fifteen  pounds  to  forty  pounds.  The  children  in 
arms  were  sold  with  their  mothers,,  an  act  of  mercy; 
but  those  that  could  feed  themselves  had  to  take 
their  chance.  .  .  . 

Such  is  the  Holy  City  to-day. 

(3)  Wahh&bi  So  bad  had  the  condition  of  Arabia,  and 
Mecca  in  particular,  become  in  the  eigh 
teenth  century,  that  a  strong  puritan  re 
vival  took  place  under  the  leadership  of 
Mohammed  Abd  ul  Wahhab,  called  the 
Wahhabi  movement.  It  strove  to  intro 
duce  education,  reform  morals,  and  cut 
away  superstitions  that  had  accreted  to 
the  faith.  And  for  some  time  real  progress 
was  made.  But  very  soon  everything 
slipped  back. 

"  To-day  even  a  well-armed  caravan  dares  to  travel 
only  by  day  through  Hassa  and  Yemen.  Negatively., 
Wahhfibiism  is  a  strong  argument  that  Islam  even 
when  reformed  into  its  original  principles  and  prac 
tices  has  no  power  to  save  a  people  or  introduce 
permanent  progress.  .  .  .  There  is  no  better  polemic 
than  a  presentation  of  the  present  intellectual,,  social 
and  moral  condition  of  Arabia.  .  .  .  Doughty  and 
Palgrave,  who  both  crossed  the  heart  of  Arabia, 
have  given  it  as  their  verdict  that  there  is  no  hope 


How  Works  It?  181 

for  this  land  in  Islam.     It  has  been  tried  zealously 
for  thirteen  hundred  years  and  piteously  failed." 

That    secular    causes    profoundly    affect  Egypt  and  the 

.    ••    •• . «        P  .         Mohammedan 

the  moral  and  social  lite  01  every  nation,  realms  of  the 
whether  its  established  religion  be  Chris- near  East 
tianity  or  Islam,  we  must,  of  course,  amply 
recognise.     We  should  therefore  expect  to 
find  a  higher  and  more  developed  life  in 
countries   like   Egypt   and  Turkey,   which 
are  more  on  the  world's  highway,  and  can 
give  and  take  more  generously  in  the  free 
exchange  of  ideas  and  material  improve 
ments. 

Syria,  Irak,  and  Egypt  have  been  Mo 
hammedan  countries  from  the  first.  Syria 
under  the  Omayyads,  Egypt  under  the 
Fatimides  and  the  early  Mamlukes,  Irak 
under  the  Abbasides,  the  Omayyad  kingdom 
of  Cordova  in  the  West  were  brilliantly 
distinguished  as  centres  of  light  and  learn 
ing.  Science  and  letters  flourished,  and  a 
high  degree  of  receptivity  was  displayed  in 
the  readiness  to  profit  by  non-Islamic  learn 
ing,  such  as  that  of  the  Greeks.  The 
Saracens,  moreover,  were  deemed  polite, 
chivalrous,  just :  humanitarian  ideas  can 
assuredly  be  traced  in  the  establishment  of 
free  schools  and  free  hospitals,  and  even 


1 82      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

lunatic  asylums,  the  buildings  of  which 
stand  in  Cairo,  for  example,  to  this  day. 
For  centuries  Islam  was  the  chief  intel 
lectual  light-bearer — one  had  almost  said 
the  only  one  —  for  Europe  and  Western 
Asia. 

At  the  same  time,  the  present  condition 
of  these  countries,  the  inner  circle  of  Islam, 
round  the  core  Arabia,  gives  ground  for 
the  conviction  that  Islam  has  not  within 
itself  the  power  of  constant  advance.  It 
can  hardly  be  due  to  accident,  or  to  mere 
secular  mischance,  that  the  light  once  held 
up  by  Islam  should  have  been  quenched  in 
these  lands,  and  that,  not  only  in  political 
power  and  scientific  attainment,  but  even 
in  literature  itself,  Islam  has  for  centuries 
been  living  on  the  memory  of  past  glories. 
HOW  Islam  has  We  have  noted  in  the  first  place  the 
politically.  conspicuous  and  fatal  failure  of  the  Moslem 
political  system  to  evolve  in  a  constitu 
tional  direction,  or  to  give  the  least  train 
ing  to  its  peoples  in  self-government.  A 
blighting  autocracy  has  been  the  invariable 
rule,  with  its  accompaniment  of  parasites, 
favourites,  sycophants ;  oppression,  mal 
administration,  embezzlement,  and  bakh 
shish,  from  Sultan  at  the  top  to  the 


How  Works  It?  183 

meanest  official  at  the  bottom  of  the  ad 
ministrative  ladder.  And  thus  the  whole 
Moslem  East  has  sunk  back  to  where  it  is 
to-day. 

It  is  true  everywhere  that  politics  show 
human  nature  at  its  very  weakest;  Chris 
tianity  itself  has  not  been  able  to  do  more 
than  partially  purify  political  life  by  con 
tributing  to  it  some  lives  which  individually 
are  possessed  by  the  ideal  of  Christ.  Yet 
belief  does  react  on  life.  Is  it  therefore 
wonderful  if  the  Moslem  conception  of  Allah 
has  tended  to  make  Islamic  rulers  unable  to 
connect  authority  with  duty  and  to  dissociate 
it  from  irresponsible  power,  leading  to  op 
pression  ?  At  a  debate  in  Cairo,  one  young 
student  boldly  said  that  the  autocratic 
ideals  of  the  East  were  the  result  of  its 
monarchic  theology, — intending  to  defend 
both  by  saying  so.  He  was  taken  to  task 
by  some  Russian  Moslems,  who  maintained 
that  the  earliest  political  ideal  of  Islam  was 
constitutional.  And  this  is  a  favourite 
thesis  to-day. 

It    is    remarkable    that    in    the    recent  Modern  reform 
revival    which    seems    to     have     touched mover 
the  whole  Orient,  Turkey  has  been  success 
ful  in  claiming  a  constitution,  while  Persia 


1 84      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

and  Egypt  are  agitating  for  that  privilege. 
This  state  of  things,  however,  has  not 
come  about  by  the  growth  of  the  idea 
of  civil  liberty,  so  much  as  in  imitation 
of  other  countries.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
how  soon  the  reformers  will  realise  the 
account  that  must  sooner  or  later  be 
settled  up  between  real  civil  and  religious 
liberty  and  Mohammedan  sacred  law  or 
"  Shariat  "  (including  the  Koran,  and  the 
Traditions),  which  figured  so  ominously  in 
the  counter-revolution  at  Constantinople  in 
April,  1909,  and  which  may  thus  figure  again 
and  yet  again.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
nationalism  is  really  possible  in  Islam — that 
is  to  say,  whether  the  zimmi  (Christian  or 
Jewish  subject)  can  ever  be  really  accorded 
equal  rights  with  the  Moslem  in  Moslem 
states ;  whether  the  habit  of  freedom  can 
be  taught ;  and  whether  the  root  of  the 
whole  social  evil,  the  position  of  women, 
can  be  touched,  while  a  belief  in  the  Koran 
remains.  While  the  great  drama  is  being 
worked  out,  it  is  premature  and  unfair  to 
speak,  yet  a  doubt  may  be  expressed. 
At  all  events  the  world  of  Islam  to-day 
feels  it  has  not  yet  played  its  last  card  :  it 
desires  to  vindicate  itself  by  trying  to 


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How  Works  It?  185 

assimilate  the  modern  ideas  which  it  per 
force  recognises  as  true.1 

But  apart  from  the  problematic  future, 
we  have  the  historical  past : — by  the  con 
fession  of  the  entire  Moslem  world  itself, 
nothing  could  have  been  more  deplorable 
from  every  point  of  view,  moral,  social, 
intellectual,  political,  and  even  religious, 
than  the  state  of  all  Moslem  lands 
before  the  reform  movement  from  the 
West  agitated  them.  This  was  freely 
admitted  at  a  Moslem  Conference  held 
lately  at  Mecca.  It  has  been  again  ad 
mitted  by  a  Slavonic  Moslem,  Dr  Gis- 
prinski,  who,  at  the  very  time  of  writing, 
is  summoning  a  Pan-Islamic  Conference 
to  meet  at  Cairo,  with  the  express  object 
of  turning  the  Pan  -  Islamic  movement 
into  entirely  ethical  channels,  and  using 
it  to  promote  the  moral,  social,  and  spiritual 
regeneration  of  Islam.  Is  this  confessed 
failure,  then,  due  to  Islam,  or  is  it  not  ? 
All  that  can  be  said  is  that  Islam  had 
practically  had  an  absolute  monopoly  of  in 
fluence  where  that  state  of  things  had  been 
brought  about ;  and  that  the  impulse  to- 

1  Cf.     Professor    Margoliouth's    paper,    Pan-Anglican 
Congress  Report,  1908,  D.  4  (g). 
U* 


How  Islam  has 

worked 

morally. 


Position  of 
women. 


1 86      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

wards  change  in  no  case  sprang — apparently 
could  not  have  sprung — from  any  purely 
Islamic  source.  These  are,  at  least,  two 
solid  facts.  The  "  movements  "  that 
spring  from  purely  Islamic  sources  are 
typified  by  names  like  Abd  ul  Wahhab, 
the  Mahdi,  El-Senussi.  .  .  .  And  these 
movements  are  movements — backwards. 

How  has  Islam  worked  out  in  these 
countries  morally  ?  What  we  have  already 
said  of  course  bears  on  this  subject  in  ways 
that  are  obvious — for  corrupt  political 
and  social  conditions  can  only  produce 
a  low  general  morality.  But  the  thing 
which  above  all  others  affects  our  judg 
ment  of  the  religion  of  Islam  is  the  hard 
fact  regarding  the  position  of  women.1 

The  matter  of  the  family  is  fundamental, 
and  with  this  is  bound  up  the  question  of 
the  position  accorded  to  women.  And 
here,  the  responsibility  of  Islam  for  the 
state  of  woman,  and  the  degradation  of 
family  life,  is  a  matter  about  which  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  for  it  goes  directly  back 
to  the  Koranic  laws  of  marriage,  divorce, 

1  The  following  pages  to  p.  201,  especially  those  on  the 
position  of  women,  refer  to  the  general  standard  of 
Moslem  life  and  morals  in  all  lands. 


How  Works  It?  187 

polygamy,  and  concubinage,  and  the  con 
sequent  view  of  womanhood  encouraged, 
nay  necessitated,  thereby ;  a  view  de 
cidedly  re-inforced  by  the  Traditions  of 
the  Prophet  taken  in  their  whole  sweep. 
It  is  perfectly  true,  as  apologists  for 
Islam  in  Cairo  and  elsewhere  are  never 
tired  of  pointing  out,  that  in  one  or 
two  respects — e.g.  the  matter  of  giving 
women  power  over  their  own  property 
—the  precept  of  the  Koran  gave  them 
a  status  which  the  legislation  of  the 
West  has  only  by  very  slow  degrees  ac 
corded  them.  But  that  aspect  of  freedom 
contrasts  strangely  with  the  chattel-like 
position  which  beyond  all  controversy 
women  occupy  in  the  Moslem  East.  For 
example  in  a  recent  Egyptian  law-suit 
about  a  female  convert  to  Christianity, 
it  was  ruled  by  a  Moslem  court — and 
there  was  no  court  in  Egypt  competent 
to  dispute  the  decision — that  no  unmarried 
woman  has  the  right  to  choose  where  she 
will  live  until  she  reaches  extreme  old  age. 
On  these  grounds  the  woman  was  handed 
back  to  her  guardian,  a  brother.  Her 
religious  opinions  and  every  other  con 
sideration  were  totally  disregarded  in  the 


i88      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

proceedings  and  the  judgment,  and  she 
was  taken  back  to  a  dark  and  uncertain 
fate  in  her  home  in  Syria.  She  was  a 
chattel  in  the  hand  of  her  brother,  and 
had  she  been  married  she  would  have  been 
the  same  in  the  hand  of  her  husband.  As 
the  following  quotation  from  Ghazzali,  the 
greatest  of  all  Mohammedan  doctors,  makes 
finally  clear : — "  Marriage  is  a  kind  of 
slavery,  for  the  wife  becomes  the  slave  of 
her  husband,  and  it  is  her  duty  to  obey 
him  absolutely  in  everything  he  requires 
of  her,  except  in  what  is  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  Islam."  1  In  other  words  she  is 
considered  a  minor  for  practically  her 
whole  term  of  life. 

'  Similarly,  woman  is  secluded,  especially 
in  the  upper  classes.  Up  to  the  time  of 
Mohammed  the  Arabian  woman  enjoyed 
a  great  deal  of  social  freedom ;  her  re 
lationship  with  the  other  sex  was  healthier 
and  franker  than  it  has  ever  been  since. 
Seclusion  and  the  veil  are  explicitly  com 
manded  in  the  Koran  itself :  yet  the 
occasion  of  the  fatal  texts,  which  have 
fixed  the  fates  of  so  many  millions  of  women 
ever  since,  was  nothing  more  than  the 

1  Quoted  by  Zwemer,  "  Islam/'  p.  127. 


How  Works  It?  189 

annoyance  of  the  Prophet  when  his  do 
mestic  privacy  had  been  slightly  disturbed ; l 
just  as  the  occasion  for  the  ordinance 
which  makes  legal  evidence  on  a  charge 
of  adultery  practically  unprocurable  was 
another  event  in  his  purely  personal  and 
domestic  history. 

As  for  woman  herself,  she  more  than 
acquiesces  in  the  position  assigned  to  her. 
The  strictness  of  her  imprisonment  indeed 
is  taken  by  her  as  the  measure  of  her 
husband's  love  and  care.  She  becomes 
void  of  interests  and  ambitions.  It  is  not, 
it  cannot  be,  from  her  side  that  her  emanci 
pation  will  come. 

In  Egypt  and  in  certain  other  lands, 
there  have  been  recent  signs  of  a  movement 
directed  towards  this  emancipation.  For 
example,  the  late  KasimJBey  Amin  strove 
with  might  and  main  for  the  modernisation 
of  Islamic  sentiment  with  regard  to  women. 
His  attempt  was  all  against  the  stream,  and 
ended  in  failure.  A  recent  writer  of  the 
free,  younger  generation  of  journalists, 
in  an  imaginary  dialogue  between  the 

1  Sura  33 :  Sale's  note.  See  also  Sura  24.  These 
passages  are  quoted  in  Muir's  (( Life  of  Mohammed," 
pp.  283,  4. 


190      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

shades  of  Kasim  Amin  and  another  dead 
reformer,  the  late  Sheikh  Mohammed  Abdu, 
could  only  represent  the  one  as  sadly  giving, 
the  other  as  sadly  accepting  blame  for 
having  striven  unwisely  and  prematurely. 
"  The  time  has  not  come." *  .  .  .  But  while 
the  direct  injunction  of  the  Koran  bars  the 
way,  can  the  time  ever  come,  in  any  effectual 
sense  ?  One  of  the  causes  of  the  counter 
revolution  in  Constantinople  (April  1909) 
was  the  suspicion  that  the  traditional 
treatment  of  women  in  these  respects  was 
being  tampered  with  by  the  reformers. 

But  the  causes  that  dictated  these  ordi 
nances  about  women  go  down  far  deeper 
than  the  mere  occasions  in  the  life  of  the 
Prophet  already  alluded  to.2  For  the 
whole  tendency  of  polygamy,  slave  concu 
binage,  and  unlimited  divorce  is  to  create 
an  unhealthy  and  suspicious  atmosphere, 
which  necessitates  the  seclusion  of  the 
supposed  creators  of  it.  In  Cairo,  as  all 
over  the  Moslem  world,  one  walks  under 
the  tall,  featureless  walls  that  enclose  the 
houses  of  the  Moslem  gentry,  the  windows 
of  which  houses  all  look  inwards  into  the 

1  See  Sura  24,  the  Ayesha  incident,  and  Sale's  notes. 

2  See  "  Muir's  Life/'  pp.  283,  285,  and  notes. 


How  Works  It?  191 

court — not  one  outwards.  .  .  .  The  male 
visitor  to  such  a  house  never  passes  beyond 
the  outer  court,  or  at  most  the  ground- 
floor  rooms.  .  .  .  The  most  distant  allusion 
to  the  mysterious  inhabitants  of  the  upper 
region  would  be  considered  intolerable. 
If  a  schoolmaster  has  to  allude  to  the 
mother  of  a  boy  in  talking  to  him,  he  will 
say  "  The  Family,"  or  "  The  Household," 
not  "Your  Mother."  Why  this  perma 
nently  strained  and  unhealthy  feeling  ? 
Here  is  the  answer  :  that  the  marriage- 
bond  is  at  the  discretion  of  the  husband 
to  hold  or  break,  and  that  any  man 
can,  therefore,  look  upon  any  married 
woman  (relatives  excepted)  as  within  his 
reach  by  marriage  ;  and  that  every  married 
woman  can  feel  (like  Zainab,  whom  All 
divorced  that  she  might  wed  Mohammed), 
that  she  may  become  the  lawful  wife  of 
any  other  man  who  can  persuade  her 
husband  to  pronounce  a  divorce  !  l 

These  and  other  regulations  then,  on 
this  most  vital  of  all  subjects,  are  the 
definite  ordinance  of  the  Koran.  Apart 
from  the  particular  evils,  which  will  be 
abundantly  illustrated  in  what  follows, 

1  Muir,  loc,  cit. 


192      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

there  is  this  general,  all-pervading  one  :— 
those  regulations  are  a  continually  intruded 
emphasis  of  that  aspect  of  the  relation  of 
the  sexes  which  of  all  others  needs  no 
emphasising.  Man  forces  on  himself — and 
on  her — just  the  view  of  woman  least 
calculated  to  raise  her  in  his  eyes,  and 
she,  finding  herself  so  regarded,  acquiesces 
in  his  judgment.  The  words  and  life  of 
Mohammed  himself  have  tended  to  fix  this 
opinion  of  womanhood  : — "  Woman  was 
made  from  a  crooked  rib,"  he  said,  "and 
if  you  try  to  bend  it  straight,  it  will 
break." 

Siave-concu-  With  regard  to  slave- concubinage,  the 
times  are  not  favourable  to  its  extensive 
practice  in  some  parts  of  the  House  of 
Islam.  But  in  Turkey  and  elsewhere  it 
is  still  common  enough.  It  will  be  suf 
ficient  to  give  quotations,  one  from  Stanley 
Lane-Poole,  whose  general  attitude  to  all 
things  Mohammedan  is  most  sympathetic : 

"  It  is  not  so  much  in  the  matter  of  wives,,  but  of 
concubines,  that  Mohammed  made  such  an  irretriev 
able  mistake.  The  condition  of  the  female  slave  in 
the  east  is  indeed  deplorable.  She  is  at  the  entire 
mercy  of  her  master,,  who  can  do  what  he  pleases 
with  her  and  her  companions, — for  the  Moslem  is 
not  restricted  in  the  number  of  his  concubines,,  as 


EGYPTIAN    PEASANT    (FELLAHA)  WOMAN    FROM    N.    AFRICA 


EGYPTIAN    LADY  BEGAM,    INDIA 

TYPES    OF    MOSLEM    WOMEN 


How  Works  It?  193 

he  is  in  that  of  his  wives.  .  .  .  The  female  white 
slave  is  sold  when  he  is  tired  of  her,  and  so  she 
passes  from  master  to  master,  a  very  wreck  of 
womanhood.  Her  condition  is  a  little  improved  if 
she  bare  a  son  to  her  tyrant ;  but  even  then  he  is 
at  liberty  to  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  child  as  his 
own,  though  it  must  be  owned  he  seldom  does  this. 
Kind  as  the  Prophet  was  himself  towards  bonds 
women,  one  cannot  forget  the  unutterable  cruelties 
which  he  allowed  his  followers  to  inflict  on  con 
quered  nations  in  the  taking  of  slaves.  The  Moslem 
soldier  was  allowed  to  do  as  he  pleased  with  any 
1  infidel  '  woman  he  might  meet  with  on  his  victori 
ous  march.  When  one  thinks  of  the  thousands  of 
women,  mothers  and  daughters,  who  must  have 
suffered  untold  shame  and  dishonour,  he  cannot 
find  words  to  express  his  horror.  This  cruel  indulg 
ence  has  left  its  mark  on  the  Moslem  character, 
nay,  on  the  whole  character  of  eastern  life." 

These  things  are  not  confined  to  past 
ages,  they  have  been  practised  in  the 
spring  of  1909  in  Asia  Minor. 

A  correspondent  writes  from  Tarsus  on 
April  24  concerning  the  Adana  massacres  :— 

"  It  would  not  be  right  to  give  you  the  worst  par 
ticulars.  We  have  cases  of  women  and  children 
deliberately  butchered  with  the  men.  Among  the 
wounded  there  are  multitudes  of  them  ;  we  hear  of 
a  pastor  and  his  family,  seven  people,  burned  to 
gether  in  one  house  ;  hosts  of  younger  women  have 
been  outraged  .  .  .  carried  away  to  harems,  their 
names  changed  to  Moslem  ones." 


i94      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Bishop  Steer e1  writes  in  1880,  but  his 
words  still  apply  :— 

"  I  have  often  heard  before  that  Mohammedanism 
had  a  more  practical  influence  than  Christianity,, 
because  there  were  no  immoral  women  in  the  streets 
as  in  London.  .  .  .  The  streets  are  empty  of  these 
women  because  the  houses  are  full  of  them,  and 
there  is  no  scandal,,  because  there  is  no  shame.  .  .  . 
A  man  may  go  to  the  houses  where  women  are  kept 
for  sale  .  .  .  buy  as  many  as  he  likes,  and  need  not 
keep  one  of  them  an  hour  longer  than  he  pleases. 
.  .  .  These  women  have  no  choice  or  hope  of  escape. 
They  have  been  taken  as  young  girls,  not  unfre- 
quently  taken  by  force  out  of  a  Christian  home,  and 
whipped  and  starved  into  learning  their  lesson.  .  .  . 
If  a  woman  bear  one  of  her  masters  a  son  whom  he 
will  acknowledge,  she  may  hope  to  be  pensioned  off 
for  life.  On  the  other  hand  she  may  at  any  time 
be  maimed  for  life,  or  tortured  to  death,  and  no  one 
will  take  any  notice,  or  so  much  as  ask  why.  .  .  . 
This  is  the  kind  of  slavery  which  English  officials 
are  recommended  not  to  interfere  with.  .  .  .  The 
result  of  the  Mohammedan  system  seems  to  me  to 
be  a  hopeless  depravation  of  the  standard  of  men's 
thoughts." 

Polygamy  and  Polygamy  and  divorce  go  together,  for 
unlimited  right  of  divorce  establishes  a  vir 
tually  unlimited  polygamy — the  only  limita 
tion  being  that  a  man  may  not  have  more 

1  "Memoir  of  Bishop  Steere,"  chap,  xix.,  U.M.C.A., 
9  Dartmouth  St.,  S.W. 


How  Works  It?  195 

than  four  wives  at  once.  Very  real  and 
very  terrible  are  the  woes  that  follow, 
necessarily,  from  the  Koranic  ordinances 
in  this  respect ;  woes  that  therefore  have 
the  sanction  of  sacred  law,  for  all  time. 
Divided  families,  favouritism,  heart-burn 
ings,  jealousies,  separation  from  children, 
despair,  cruel  injustices,  ruination  to  the 
character  of  the  man,  the  life  of  the  woman 
— such  are  the  bitter  fruits  of  the  tree 
planted  by  Mohammed  in  the  name  of 
Allah.  A  man  may  and  does  divorce 
his  wife  without  cause,  save  his  own  dis 
appointment  or  whim,  immediately  after 
marriage  —  or  even  worse,  after  many 
years  of  married  life.  Every  divorce 
means  a  blow  to  the  woman's  self- 
respect,  a  diminution  of  her  market- 
value,  a  cruel  separation  in  many  cases 
from  her  children.  ...  In  a  tram  car 
in  Cairo  the  other  day,  an  Egyptian 
woman  chatted  with  an  English  fellow- 
passenger.  She  was  going  down  quite  as 
a  matter  of  course  to  take  her  divorced 
daughter  from  her  ex-husband's  house 
back  to  her  own !  Oh  sordid  ending ! 
and  very  simply  she  remarked,  "  Our 
Moslem  customs  are  '  like  pitch  '  '  (i.e.  as 


196      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

bad  as  they  can  be).  The  testimony  was 
all  the  more  effective  because  so  artless. 
She  said  " customs"  but  she  meant — and 
knew  not  she  meant — religious  law,  never, 
never  to  be  abrogated,  while  Islam  itself, 
and  the  Koran  stand. 

Few  indeed  are  the  marriages  even  in 
civilised  Egypt  that  do  not  end  in  divorce  ! 
"There  are  many  men  in  Egypt,"  says  Lane, 
"  who  in  the  course  of  ten  years  have  married 
as  many  as  twenty,  thirty,  or  even  more 
wives."  And  to  this  day  it  is  terribly 
common.  One  of  the  ways  in  which  this 
system  works  is  the  duplicity  it  often 
encourages  in  the  wife  of  the  moment, 
stinting  and  cheating  her  husband  in 
the  household  expenses  in  every  possible 
way,  against  the  day  when  she  shall  have 
to  shift  for  herself.  In  this  process  her 
family  ably  second  her.  But  why  multiply 
details  as  to  how  such  a  system  works  out  ?  l 

We  add  one  story,  ending  happily,  of 
a  husband  and  wife  from  Afghanistan. 
The  poorer  classes  there  cannot  afford  to 
seclude  their  women,  and  therefore  punish 
them  barbarously  in  the  case  of  what 

1  It  will  be  enough  to  read  Lane's  account,  "  Modern 
Egyptians/'  chap.  vi. 


How  Works  It?  197 

they  consider  undue  familiarity  with  a 
man.1 

"  Two  years  ago  a  forbidding-looking  Afghan 
brought  down  his  wife  to  the  Bannu  Mission 

C) 

Hospital.  In  a  fit  of  jealousy  he  had  cut  off  her 
nose,  but  when  he  reflected  in  a  cooler  moment  that 
he  had  paid  a  good  sum  for  her,  and  had  only 
injured  his  own  property  and  his  domestic  happiness, 
he  was  sorry  for  it,  and  brought  her  to  us  to  restore 
to  her  as  far  as  possible  her  pristine  beauty.  The 
usual  operation,  performed  with  certain  modifica 
tions,  is  that  of  bringing  down  a  portion  of  skin  from 
the  forehead,  and  stitching  it  on  to  the  raw  surface 
where  the  nose  has  been  cut  off.  This  woman  had 
a  low  forehead,  so  I  said  to  the  husband  that  I  did 
not  think  the  result  of  the  operation  would  be  very 
satisfactory  ;  but  if  he  would  pay  the  price  I  would 
purchase  him  an  artificial  nose  from  England.  .  .  . 

" '  How  much    will    it    cost  ? '    said   the  Afghan. 

"  '  About  thirty  rupees.' 

"  There  was  a  silence  :  he  was  evidently  racked  by 
conflicting  sentiments. 

" '  Well,  my  man,  what  are  you  thinking  about  ? 
Will  you  have  it  or  no  ? ' 

"  '  I  was  thinking,  sir,'  he  replied,  f  you  say  it 
costs  thirty  rupees,  and  I  could  get  a  new  wife  for 
eighty  rupees.'  .  .  .  He  ultimately  decided  to 
have  the  original  wife  patched  up,  paid  the  money, 
and  I  procured  him  the  article  from  England,  which 
gave,  I  believe,  entire  satisfaction,  and  the  last  time 
I  heard  of  them  they  were  living  happily  together." 

1  "Among  the  Wild  Tribes  of  the  Afghan  Frontier" 
PENNELL. 


198      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Can  these  evils  When  we  come  to  study  Islam  in  India 
from  within?  we  shall  find  a  real,  though  cautiously 
expressed,  revolt  against  this  whole  system, 
based  on  a  revolt  against  its  underlying 
conceptions.  It  there  takes  the  form  of 
reading  into  original  Islam  an  opposite 
intention,  an  opposite  "  spirit."  According 
to  these  reformers,  the  "spirit  of  Islam  "  and 
of  the  Koran  text  was  to  accord  to  wToman 
a  sort  of  chivalrous,  awed  devotion,  by  sur 
rounding  her  WTth  an  element  of  mystery  (!): 
to  discourage  polygamy,  by  limiting  it :  and 
so  forth.  The  method  is  not  in  itself  a  bad 
one — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself l  em 
ployed  it  in  explaining  the  Mosaic  law. 
But,  unfortunately,  the  one  thing  Moham 
med  himself  made  for  ever  impossible  was 
the  advent  of  any  Greater  One  to  construe 
and  perfect  his  law.  For  himself  he  claimed 
to  be  the  final  Prophet — for  his  law  he 
claimed  absolute  finality.  That  claim  has 
been  endorsed  by  his  followers.  Can  it  ever 
be  explained  away? 

Abd-el-Wahhab,  El  Mahdi,  and  El 
Senussi  would  not  have  the  Moslem  customs 
changed  as  regards  women.  If  it  is  ob 
jected  that  they  were  only  barbarians, 

1  S.  Matt.  xix.  8. 


How  Works  It?  199 

what  shall  we  say  of  the  enlightened  Sheikh, 
Mohammed  Abdu,  the  Egyptian  reformer, 
the  praised  of  Lord  Cromer  ?  Probably 
the  secret  personal  convictions  of  this  man 
were  identical  with  those  of  Indian  re 
formers  who  desire  to  raise  the  status  of 
women  ;  but  in  cutting  at  tradition  and 
traditionalism,  he  ended  by  merely  sug 
gesting  to  his  followers  a  more  servile 
adherence  to  the  Koran.  And  thus  it 
comes  about  that  one  of  these  followers 
enthusiastically  told  the  writer  recently 
that  he  favoured  a  return  to  the  Koranic 
precept  of  cutting  off  a  hand  for  theft; 
while  another, — in  a  book  which  was  in 
tended  to  be  a  sort  of  manifesto  of  Reformed 
Islam  ! — defends  the  Moslem  law  of  poly 
gamy,  because  a  man's  heart  has  room  for 
more  than  one  wife  just  as  it  has  for  more 
than  one  sister,  and  that  of  divorce,  because 
the  fear  of  divorce  ever  hanging  over  the 
wife  will  make  her  diligent  to  please  her 
husband,  and  so  love  will  be  begotten  and 
maintained;  while  moreover  the  natural 
instincts  of  men  may  require  more  than 
one  woman.  The  important  point  to  re 
member  is  that  this  sort  of  thinking  eman 
ates  from  two  of  the  younger  school,  trained 


200      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

with  the  highest  modern  education  that 
the  Egypt  of  to-day  can  give,  followers  of 
the  most  celebrated  "  liberal  "  that  Egypt 
has  yet  produced.  It  simply  means  that 
in  the  last  resort,  the  whole  system,  having 
been  sanctioned  in  the  Koran,  has  invariably 
to  be  defended  by  arguments  as  the  best 
possible  one. 

General  The  existence  of  a  clear  command  and 

lorahty.  direction  is  a  potent  thing  with  a  Moham 

medan.  The  Moslem  merchant  is  not  much 
troubled,  one  imagines,  by  questions  of 
"  trade  and  morality,"  but  will  some 
times  renounce  the  interest  paid  on  his 
deposit  at  the  bank,  in  obedience  to 
the  Koranic  command  denouncing  usury, 
a  term  which  he  takes  to  cover  all  interest. 
In  the  same  way,  the  humane  directions  of 
the  Koran  and  the  Traditions  make  many 
Moslems  kind  to  animals  ;  the  flat  pro 
hibition  of  all  liquor  has  made  greatly 
for  sobriety  so  far  as  outward  appear 
ances  go ;  and  the  condemnation  of 
games  of  chance  has  checked  gambling. 
Less  favourable  features  are  the  diffused 
sensuality  that  seems  literally  to  permeate 
society  ;  the  utter  want  of  mutual  trust 
and  real  co-operation  ;  the  all-prevailing 


THE    SHORES    OF    CARTHAGE 


TETUAN,    MOROCCO 


How  Works  It?  201 

religiosity  backed  by  the  slenderest  ethical 
achievement.  Lane  and  many  others  have 
remarked  how  religiosity  and  immorality 
can  co -exist,  often  without  exciting  the 
slightest  remark  or  the  least  sense  of  in 
congruity.  He  cites  a  poem,  which  he 
once  read,  in  which  an  immoral  intrigue  is 
rapturously  described  (with  the  definite 
intent  of  its  being  recited  to  an  enraptured 
audience),  and  the  narration  is  followed, 
without  change  of  voice  or  tone,  by 
a  perfectly  general  request  for  the  for 
giveness  of  Allah  and  the  mediation 
of  the  Prophet.  The  sheikh  to  whom 
he  showed  it,  worthy  man,  could  see 
nothing  in  the  least  wrong  .  .  .  was 
not  the  order  of  things  most  logical  ? 
transgressions  committed  first,  pardon 
requested  second  ?  Contrast  that  poem 
which  Lane  heard  with  the  fifty-first 
psalm. 

Morocco  on  the  extreme  west  is  as  strong  North  Africa : 
a  witness  for  Islam  as  Arabia  in  the  east,  Tripoi£0Tunis, 
for  here  also  Islam  has  had  the  exclusive  A1£iers- 
and  all-inclusive  right  of  influence.     And 
the    same    may    be    said    for    Tripoli,    in 
the   Barbary  States.     Between   these   two 
states  lie  Tunis  and  Algiers,  both  of  them 


202      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

governed  by  France.1  It  must  be  confessed 
that  in  none  of  these  four  countries  does 
one  gain  the  impression  that  Islam  can 
save  a  nation,  or  raise  up  a  modern  civilisa 
tion.  The  Mohammedanism  of  all  four 
lands  is  of  the  straitest  and  most  ortho 
dox  description.  No  attempt  has  been  made 
to  water  down  the  Koran,  the  Traditions, 
or  the  Canon  Law.  These  are  followed 
with  remarkable  fidelity  and  literalness. 
And  the  result  we  see.  There  is  Morocco 
in  a  state  of  permanent  semi-anarchy,  too 
fanatical  to  allow  the  entry  of  light  and 
education ;  too  weak  to  evolve  self- 
government,  yet  too  strong  in  lawlessness 
to  set  up  or  maintain  an  effective  autocracy. 
Ninety  per  cent,  are  illiterate  ;  polygamy, 
divorce,  slavery,  concubinage,  seclusion  of 
women,  and  immorality  are  all  described 
as  "  common  "  or  "  general."  Material  pro 
gress  there  is  "  none." 

Afghanistan.  Since  Indian  Mohammedanism  came  very 
largely  from  and  through  Afghanistan,  a 
glance  may  be  taken  at  that  country  before 
turning  to  India.  Dr  Pennell's  recent 
book2  describes  in  a  wonderful  way 

1  Tunis   bears   to    France   the    relation    of    Egypt    to 
Britain  :   Algiers,  that  of  India. 

2  See  especially  Chap.  IX. 


How  Works  It  ?  203 

what  Mohammedanism  means  in  this 
country.  The  religious  fervour  of  the 
Afghans  is  evident  to  all  who  are  at  all 
acquainted  with  them,  whether  in  their 
mountain  homes,  or  travelling  in  India. 
The  mullahs  have  a  great  influence  on 
the  life  of  the  people,  though  it  has 
been  truly  said  that  there  is  no  priest 
hood  in  Islam.  There  is  no  act  of  worship 
and  no  religious  rite,  which  may  not  in  the 
absence  of  a  mullah  be  equally  well  per 
formed  by  any  pious  layman ;  on  the 
other  hand  the  power  of  the  mullahs  some 
times  appears  greater  than  that  of  the 
throne  itself.  For  one  thing  knowledge 
has  been  almost  limited  to  the  priestly 
class  ;  for  another,  the  Afghan  is  a  Moham 
medan  to  the  backbone,  so  that  the  mullah 
becomes  the  embodiment  of  all  that  is 
most  national  and  sacred.  They  too  are 
the  ultimate  dispensers  of  justice,  and  the 
only  two  legal  appeals  in  Afghanistan  are, 
one  to  the  theological  law  as  laid  down 
by  Mohammed  and  interpreted  by  the 
mullahs,  the  other  to  the  autocracy  of 
the  throne,  and  even  the  absolute  Amir 
would  hesitate  to  give  an  order  at  variance 
with  that  of  the  leading  mullahs. 


204      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

India  reform          The  conditions  in  India  being  more  com- 

movernent.  1 1         j          •  e  i      •  i 

plex,  the  drawing  01  conclusions  becomes 
more  precarious.  In  recent  times  there 
has  unquestionably  been  a  great  improve 
ment  in  some  parts  of  Indian  Moslem 
society. 

The  fact,  however,  remains  that  the  con 
dition  of  Moslems  in  India,  apart  from  these 
reforming  movements,  is  described  by  com 
petent  observers  in  very  much  the  same 
terms  as  in  the  countries  we  have  already 
surveyed.  At  the  last  census  95  per  cent l 
were  still  illiterate ;  and  nowhere  in  all  India 
was  more  unenlightened  and  heartless  op 
position  shown  to  the  humane  and  merciful 
plague  regulations  than  by  Mohammedans, 
headed  and  directed  by  the  mullahs.  So 
that  before  we  come  to  discuss  Indian 
reform  movements,  it  must  be  very  dis 
tinctly  understood  that  such  movements 
affect  only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the 
Moslem  community. 

On  the  other  hand,  just  as  we  noted  in 
our  survey  of  Turkey  and  Far-Western 
Islam,  so  in  India  there  is  testimony  that 
the  religion  seems  to  give  there  a  force  of 
character  and  morale  that  often  makes  its 

1  Of  the  women  91)§  per  cent. 


How  Works  It  ?  205 

adherents  worthy  of  admiration  as  men, 
and  very  strong  when  converted  to  Christ. 
There  is  clearly  that  in  Islam  which  makes 
for  strength  and  for  steadfastness. 

So     great     was     the     Opposition     of     the  Seyyid  Ahmad. 

mullahs  and  their  people  to  the  educational 
system  established  by  the  British,  that  the 
whole  community  speedily  fell  decidedly 
behind  that  of  the  Hindus  in  knowledge, 
enlightenment,  and  consequently  in  in 
fluence.  A  natural  reaction  followed,  in 
itiated  and  headed  by  Sir  Seyyid  Ahmad. 
Born  in  1817,  this  man  had  opportunities 
all  his  life  of  observing  and  studying 
western  thought,  life,  and  manners ;  and 
on  his  return  from  a  visit  to  England  at  the 
age  of  fifty-three,  he  set  himself  to  reform 
his  fellow  religionists  in  India.  He  ener 
getically  opposed  fatalism,  preached  the 
doctrine  of  "  God  helps  those  who  help 
themselves,"  enthusiastically  promoted  edu 
cation,  founded  a  liberal  college  at  Aligarh, 
which  was  to  be  English  except  in  religion, 
and  in  1886  set  on  foot  an  annual  Educa 
tional  Conference  for  the  Moslems  of  India. 
"  Leave  us  our  God.  In  all  else  make  us 
English,"  were  the  words  of  a  well- 
known  Moslem  author  to  a  Principal  of 


Comparison  of 
eastern  and 
western 
reformers. 


206      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Aligarh  College.  Great  success  has  at 
tended  those  vigorous  measures ;  the 
Moslems  are  making  up  the  ground  lost 
in  the  race  with  the  Hindus,  and  the 
results  produced  by  the  college  appear  to 
be  excellent.  Moreover,  the  very  fact  that 
Mohammedans  are  in  a  minority  in  India 
has  made  them  favourable  to  the  English, 
and  has  thus  tended  to  blunt  and  soften 
the  usual  qualities  of  intolerance,  pride, 
and  fanaticism,  and  to  encourage  the  more 
humane  characteristics  of  loyalty  and  good 
will.  Thus  has  been  produced  an  altogether 
more  sympathetic  quality  of  character  than 
we  meet  with  anywhere  else  in  the  House 
of  Islam.  Something  akin  to  this  is  being 
now  witnessed  in  Turkey.  Only  the  other 
day  (1908)  a  proposal  was  mooted  in  a 
Turkish  journal,  and  favourably  received 
for  an  entente  between  liberal  Moslem 
nations  under  the  aegis  of  Britain  ! 

How  do  the  reforming  ideas  of  these 
Ahmadis  differ  from  the  typical  reformers 
of  Western  Islam  ?  l  Perhaps  the  difference 
may  be  thus  expressed  ;  the  Western  re 
former  always  goes  back  to  the  letter  of  the 
Koran,  the  Indian  to  what  he  believes  to  be 

1  See  pp.  198,  191). 


How  Works  It  ?  207 

its  spirit.  The  difference  is  profound.  The 
Indian  reformers,  introducing,  as  they  do,  a 
rationalising  spirit,  treat  the  Koran  itself 
with  freedom,  and  thus  are  at  liberty  to 
read  into  it  almost  everything  they  have 
come  to  like,  and  out  of  it  almost  everything 
they  have  come  to  dislike.  A  rationalising 
doctrine  of  Inspiration  has  made  it  possible 
for  them  to  treat  the  Koran  with  something 
like  criticism,  at  the  same  time  accord 
ing  to  the  Bible  a  much  greater  degree  of 
respect  than  it  obtains  elsewhere  in  the 
Moslem  world.  Objectionable  elements  in 
the  former,  such  as  the  Veil,  polygamy, 
and  divorce,  can  be  explained  away  : — 
"they  were  occasional,  not  eternal  com 
mands  ;  look  deeper  into  them  and  you 
shall  see  that  in  reality  the  freedom  of 
women,  monogamy,  and  the  permanence  of 
marriage  were  intended." l  But  already 
we  hear  of  strong  reaction  against  these 
views  on  the  part  of  the  orthodox  in 
India.  In  El  Azhar  and  Egypt  and  the 
West  generally  they  would  be  accounted 
unorthodoxy,  infidelity.  And  the  very  fact 
that  the  school  has  been  called  (though 
absurdly),  and  allows  itself  to  be  called, 

1  See  "  Spirit  of  Islam/'  by  Ameer  Ali. 


208      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Mu'tazilite,  after  the  free-thinking  sect  of 
Abbaside  Islam,  is  significant  of  the  pro 
bable  fate  in  store  for  it ;  for  the  original 
Mu'tazilite  school  of  thought  became  almost 
the  most  hopelessly  discredited  of  all  the 
sects  known  to  Mohammedan  history,  and 
utterly  perished  after,  on  the  whole,  an 
inglorious  career. 

The  East  Before   leaving  the   east,  let   us    glance 

at  the  effect  of  Islam  on  the  East 
Indian  Islands,  where  its  spread  has 
been  so  unmilitary  and  legitimate.  Mo 
hammedanism  has,  in  the  case  of  these 
islanders,  brought  them  out  of  isolation. 
Trade  and  the  pilgrimage  have  brought 
them  into  some  sort  of  connection  with 
the  outside  world  :  Islam  has  opened  to 
them  careers  in  other  lands  ;  it  has  enabled 
them  to  emigrate  with  some  success.  On 
the  whole,  however,  the  religion  has  ap 
peared  to  make  comparatively  little  differ 
ence  one  way  or  the  other.  It  has,  it  is 
true,  stopped  cannibalism  in  Sumatra ; 
but  it  has  distinctly  lowered  the  position 
of  women  by  its  sex  regulations.  The 
returned  Meccan  pilgrims  are  particularly 
given  to  indulge  in  divorces.  Sooner  or 
later  these  defects  must  more  than  neutral- 


How  Works  It  ?  209 

ise  any  improvements  introduced,  and 
we  may  be  indeed  thankful  that  side 
by  side  with  this  downward  tendency 
there  is  the  upward  tendency  of  a 
strong  and  increasing  Christian  missionary 
Church. 

The  materials  for  studying  the  effect  of  China. 
Islam  upon  China  can  hardly  be  said  to 
exist.  But  as  far  as  can  be  made  out  the 
results  are  very  neutral :  that  is  to  say, 
the  Chinese  Moslems  owe  much  more 
to  their  Confucian  Chinese  environment 
than  to  their  somewhat  vague  uninformed 
Mohammedanism.  They  fall  in  with  the 
custom  of  the  country  much  more  than 
in  other  lands,  probably  because  of  the 
terrible  massacres  of  Mohammedans  which 
have  taken  place  from  time  to  time, 
when  any  attempt  has  been  made  by 
the  Moslems  to  stand  out  against  Chinese 
ways. 

We  have   already   seen   what  enormous  Africa- 
tracts  of  country,  what  millions  of  people,  Ne£ro  Islam- 
how  many  races,  nations,   and  tribes  are 
embraced   under  negro  Islam.      Neverthe 
less  a  striking  unity  marks   the  accounts 
of     those    who,     from     Sierra     Leone    to 
Zanzibar,  describe  to  us  the  effect  of  Islam 
H 


210      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

on  the  negro.  Everywhere  one  finds  that 
a  rise  is  spoken  of  up  to  a  certain  level ; 
a  dead  stop  at  that  level — a  low  one  after 
all ;  a  hardening ;  and  then  the  inner 
deterioration  that  comes  to  those  who,  con 
tented  with  a  low  ideal,  become  the  enemies 
of  a  higher  one. 

Effects  of  Take  the  better  side  first.     T.  W.  Arnold, 

ism  SHiSathen  m  ms  "  Preaching  of  Islam,"  notes  or  quotes 
the  contrast  drawn  by  a  traveller,  between 
heathenism  and  Islam  in  Nigeria;  how 
for  the  first  few  scores  of  leagues  nothing 
greets  his  eyes  but  the  utter  squalid 
wretchedness,  dirt,  and  degradation  of 
heathenism ;  everything  seems  repulsive 
and  hopeless.  Then  a  change  comes  over 
the  scene,  and  he  finds  himself  among 
negroes  decently  and  cleanly  clad  and  in 
their  right  mind,  conducting  their  affairs  in 
a  seemly  and  dignified  manner.  There  is 
the  village  mosque,  the  mullah,  the  mosque- 
school,  the  teaching  of  reading  and  writing. 
...  It  is  no  matter  for  surprise  that  such 
striking  contrasts  as  these  impress  the 
European  traveller  and  official,  and  incline 
him  to  very  favourable  judgments  of  Islam 
as  a  social  regenerator  —  and  doubtless 
to  this  extent  rightly  so.  Such  men  argue 


How  Works  It?  211 

that  Islam  with  its  calculated  licenses  and 
restraints  just  fits  the  negro  nature,  utterly 
unable  as  it  is  to  make  anything  but  a 
botch  of  the  more  idealistic  religion  of 
Christ's  Spirit.  So  Dr  Blyden,  Canon 
Isaac  Taylor ;  and,  to  the  same  effect, 
T.  W.  Arnold.  Of  course,  were  the  negro 
utterly  incapable  of  rising  to  anything 
higher  than  the  mediocre  ideal  of  Islam, 
it  might  be  arguable  that  it  is  dangerous 
to  trouble  him  with  anything  more 
elevated.  But  if  this  is  not  the  case, 
we  may  well  ask  of  these  gentlemen 
the  stern  question,  "  Is  it  not,  on  the 
contrary,  dangerous  to  consign  negro  Africa 
to  an  unprogressive  system,  and  to  dis 
courage  the  effort  to  give  it  what  will 
never  let  it  rest  from  aiming  higher  ?  ' 
Such  a  policy  is  only  storing  up  still 
greater  dangers  a  little  way  ahead. 

The  Hausas,  whose  home  is  the  vast  Hausaiand. 
territory  between  the  Niger  and  Lake  Chad, 
are,  for  Africans,  a  civilised  nation.  They 
have  walled  cities,  they  have  a  great 
language,  they  have  arts  and  crafts.  How 
far  Islam  has  had  any  permanent  elevating 
effect  on  these  people  may  be  gathered 
from  the  opinion  of  a  highly  competent 


212      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


The  Hausa 
People. 


(a)  Childhood. 


(b)  Woman 
hood. 


(c)  Teachers. 


(d)  Rulers. 


(e)  People. 


observer,  a  man  who  knows   the   Hausas 
better  than  any  other  man  alive.1 

"The  thing  which  seems  to  strike  all  of  us^in 
these  West  African  Mohammedan  lands  is  the  utter 
lack  of  all  sincerity  in  religious  matters,  undoubtedly 
inbred,  and  due  to  the  constant  witnessing  of  open 
profligacy  of  the  worst  type,  associated  with  all 
the  forms  and  ceremonials  of  a  religious  code.  By 
far  the  commonest  word  in  use  in  the  Hausa 
language  (I  should  say  almost  three  to  one  of  any 
other),  and  the  least  understood,  is  the  word 
<  Allah  ! ' 

"  I  have  seen  in  eight  years, — a  childhood  bereft  of 
all  the  real  features  of  childhood,  love,  trust,  and 
innocence. 

tf  A  womanhood  for  the  most  part  demoralised,  and 
having  no  more  of  a  true  woman's  instinct  towards 
her  partner  in  life  than  the  ordinary  hen  has  to  the 
last  cock  she  met  in  the  farmyard. 

"  A  class  of  teachers  and  instructors,  reduced  to  the 
level  of  toadying  to  a  vicious  and  tyrannical  ruling 
class,  robbing  the  people  they  ought  to  protect ; 
cheating  them  in  their  ignorance  in  order  to  per 
petuate  in  them  that  ignorance  the  more  to  cheat 
them.  A  class  for  whom  nearly  all  respect  is  dead, 
— legitimizers  of  sin  and  profiters  thereby. 

"  A  ruling  class  given  to  plunder,  and  whose  only 
feelings  toward  the  other  classes  are  those  of  the 
wool-gatherer  towards  the  sheep, — to  fleece. 

"  A  people  sunk  into  indifference  to  sin,  with  an 
outward  adhesion  to  religion,  total  distrust  of  each 

1  Dr  Walter  Miller,  whom  the  writer  thanks  for  his 
valuable  contribution  on  this  point. 


How  Works  It?  213 

other,,  a  feudal  state  containing  all  the  extremest 
and  worst  forms  of  egotism,  with  no  altruism  what 
ever  ;  I  have  never  seen,  until  I  came  here,  all  ideas 
of  altruism  laughed  at  as  being  mad  and  foolish  ; 
probably  this  is  the  last  and  most  deadly  blow  which 
Islam  deals  at  a  race.  The  land  teems  with  mendi 
cants  eating  up  what  the  priests  and  rulers  leave  ; 
the  last  locusts  to  prey  on  the  already  lean  fields  ! 

"  Here  are  four  remarks  which  were  made  to 
me,  and  they  may  be  taken  to  be  fairly  typical  of 
the  standard  represented  in  this  country,  not  by 
one,  but  by  all  classes,  towards  such  ideas  as  friend 
ship,  chivalry,  loyalty,  and  patriotism. 

"  (a)  (  Do  you  think  any  man  would  be  such  a  fool 
as  to  let  himself  get  killed  or  even  hurt  for  the  sake 
of  his  wife  ?  Why,  if  he  could  protect  her  and  get 
off  himself  too,  of  course  he  would  do  it,  but  not  else.' 

"  (6)  '  What  should  I  do  ?  why,  run  away  of  course  ! 
If  my  friend  is  already  down,  I  am  not  going  to  stay 
and  let  the  hyena  eat  both  me  and  him ;  what's  the 
use  of  two  people  running  a  risk  ?  ' 

11  (c)  '  Go  into  captivity  with  the  Emir  when  he  is 
deposed  ?  Why,  he's  got  nothing  more  he  can  give 
me,  what's  the  use  of  being  with  him  ?  ' 

"  (d)  '  Oh  we  don't  mind  the  white  man  ruling  our 
country,  it's  all  the  same  to  us  as  long  as  we  get 
plenty  to  eat ! '  (Heathen  don't  talk  like  this,  they 
will  fight  to  the  bitter  end  for  their  country.) 

"  I  believe  these  things  to  be  not  accidental,  but, 
if  not  entirely  caused,  at  least  largely  accentuated 
by  Islam.  The  population,  from  all  the  records  we 
have,  can  hardly  be  more  than  one-third  what  it  was 
fifty  years  ago.  .  .  .  Polygamy,  slavery,  disease  !  all 
due  to  Islam. 


2u      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

"  One  thing  seems  to  me  true  above  all  else  in 
this  great  question.  It  is  our  Cabinet,  our  Foreign 
Secretaries,  our  officials,  our  senior  and  junior  mem 
bers  of  the  services,  who  need  educating.  Their 
blindness  as  to  what  Islam  is,  and  ever  will  be,  is 
paralysing.  They  will  patronise  the  reactionary 
fakir  and  moulvi  and  his  wily  class.  They  always 
imagine  Islam  is  loyal  and  should  be  protected  from 
the  missionary." 

East  Africa.  In  East  Africa  the  evidence  is  in  many 

respects  less  favourable  than  in  West  Africa. 
Among  a  large  choice  we  take  the  testi 
mony  of  a  witness  as  well  accredited  to 
speak  of  the  East  as  the  first  one  was  to 
speak  of  the  West :  a  man,  however,  who  is 
quick,  and  anxious  to  recognise  whatever 
is  of  good  report  in  the  religion  and  people 
around  him.1 

"  The  bad  features  of  Islam,  traceable  to  the 
religion,  original  or  traditional,  seem  to  me  to  be  as 
follows  : — 

"  (1)  The  evil  attitude  of  the  Moslem  to  the  other 
sex.  Divorce  here  is  appallingly  prevalent.  There 
is  an  immense  amount  of  sexual  immorality.  .  .  . 

"  (2)  An  absence  of  the  moral  sense,  especially 
with  regard  to  speaking  the  truth.  ...  To  what 
source  are  we  to  trace  their  permanent  habit  of  lying  ? 
Only  to  the  Traditions.  The  story  of  the  night- 
journey  with  its  tremendous  traditional  develop- 

1  Canon  Godfrey  Dale,  of  the  Universities'  Mission, 
whom  also  the  writer  thanks  for  his  contribution. 


How  Works  It?  215 

ments,  of  Mohammed's  death,,  with  its  traditional 
developments,,  etc.  etc.,  are  devoutly  believed  here. 
Imagine  the  systematic  habit  of  lying  foisted  on  to 
the  African  character,,  and  you  will  understand  what 
I  say — that  I  have  found  a  kind  of  impregnable 
incapacity  to  see  where  the  truth  lies,  even  when  it 
consists  of  patent  historical  facts,  proved  up  to  the 
hilt. 

"  (3)  What  follows  from  an  absence  of  a  sense  of 
truth,  and  defective  moral  sense, — an  incapacity  to 
grasp  the  true  notion  of  the  holiness  of  God.  The 
gods  whom  men  serve  write  their  names  on  their 
foreheads.  That  is  why  we  find  an  absence  of 
truth,  justice,  and  purity.  They  are  largely  non 
existent,  because  of  an  immoral  doctrine  of  forgive 
ness  and  predestination. 

"  (4)  Formalism,  externalism,  materialism  of  a  most 
pronounced  kind,  the  exact  opposite  of  the  spirit  of 
love,  of  power,  and  of  a  wholesome  mind. 

"  (5)  Absence  of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice, — the 
prevalence  of  slavery  is  a  fruit  of  this.  How  far 
did  the  Arab  raids  into  Africa  for  slaves  differ  from 
Mohammed's  divinely  sanctioned  raids  on  caravans 
from  Mecca  on  Arab  tribes,  and  on  the  unfortunate 
Jews  ? 

"  The  strong  points  of  Islam  in  East  Africa  seem 
to  me  to  be  these  : — 

"  (1)  The  Moslem  knows  the  country  and  people, 
lives  in  the  very  midst  of  them,  and  is  always  on 
the  spot.  He  can  live  as  they  do,  mix  with  them 
freely,  without  any  obvious  racial  contrast. 

"  (2)  His  habit  of  attaching  the  idea  of  God  to 
the  principal  events  of  every-day  life.  It  is  difficult 
to  estimate  the  effect  on  the  African  mind  of  pro- 


216      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

notmcing  the  name  of  God  over  the  food  he  eats 
The  name  of  God  is  associated  with  every  meal., 
a  very  important  fact  in  dealing  with  the  natural 
man  in  a  heathen  state,  who  talks  and  thinks  much 
of  food." 

And  with  this  we  close  our  survey.  It 
has  been  an  honest  attempt  to  set  forth 
the  present  state  of  the  House  of  Islam, 
and  as  far  as  possible  to  trace  character 
istic  effects  to  inherent  causes.  And  we 
now  have  displayed  before  us  the  foe  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  has  to  attack  ;  nay, 
say  rather,  the  peoples  whorii  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  is  to  save. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CHAPTER  V 

1.  Describe  the  present  condition  of  Arabia,  and 
the  causes  which  seem  to  have  led  to  this  condition. 

2.  Relate  Mohammedanism  to  the  movements  for 
constitutional  liberty  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  Persia, 
and  Egypt.     What  facts   of  history  throw  light  on 
the  present  position  ? 

3.  Contrast  the  position    of  woman    in    Moham 
medan  lands  with  her  position  in  the  West.    Explain 
the  fact  that  many  Moslem  women  do  not  wish  the 
customs  to  be  changed. 

4.  WThat  position  do  the  mullahs  hold  in  Afghan 
istan  ?     To  what  do  you  attribute  their  power  ? 

5.  Compare  the  reforming  ideas  of  the  Ahmadis 
and  certain  of  the  young  Turks  with  those  of  such 
typical  western  reformers  as  Mohammed  Abdu. 


MOSLEM    LAWYERS 


GROUP    OF    MULLAHS 


How  Works  It?  217 

6.  What  answer  can  be  given  to  the  argument 
that  in  negro  Africa  Mohammedanism  is  a  half-way 
house  to  Christianity,,  and  suited  to  the  negro  nature  ? 
Base  your  answer  on  stated  facts. 

7.  How  far  is  the  slave-trade  based  on  Islamic 
principles  ?      In  what  Mohammedan  lands  and  under 
what  forms  is  it  still  carried  on  ? 

8.  What  is  the  significance  of  the  Mecca  pilgrim 
age?     To  what  extent  is  it  a  means  of  spreading 
Mohammedanism  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

BARTON,  REV.  J.  L.,  D.D. — Daybreak  in  Turkey. 
BURTON,  R. — Persona]   Narrative  of  a  Pilgrimage  to 

Medina  and  Mecca. 
Cairo  Conference  Papers — The  Mohammedan  World 

of  To-day. 
HUME-GRIFFITHS,  MRS — -Behind  the  Veil   in    Persia 

and  Turkish  Arabia. 

MALCOLM,  N. — Five  Years  in  a  Persian  Town. 
ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Islam,  chap.  viii.  and  pp.  10.9-113. 
The  East  and  the  West,  July  190<),  articles  1  and  C2. 
SOMMER,  A.  V.,  and  ZWEMER,  S.  M.  (Edited  by) — Our 

Moslem  Sisters. 
PEN  NELL — Among  the  Wild  Tribes  of   the  Afghan 

Frontier. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HOW   SAVE    IT  ? 

(1)  The  Past 

Summary.  THRICE  have  we  already  traversed  the 
vast  Mohammedan  world,  the  House  of 
Islam.  Each  time  it  has  been  with  a 
somewhat  different  intent,  and  from  a 
somewhat  different  starting-point.  Has 
its  bewildering  extent  and  diversity  begun 
to  shape  itself  to  our  mind  as  a  whole  ? 
And  if  so,  have  we  then  begun  to  realise 
that  this  whole  constitutes  a  distinguish 
able  but  tremendous  problem  ? 

Three  more  voyages  still  remain  for  us 
to  make  before  our  task  is  done,  correspond- 
,  ing  to  the  three  we  have  already  com 
pleted.  For  hitherto  we  have  been  mov 
ing  wholly  under  the  Crescent.  But  from 
now  "the  Cross  is  in  the  Field."  The 
gigantic  problem  has  shaped  itself,  and  the 
question  before  us  is,  "  How  is  that  Cross 
to  be  given  the  victory  ?  How  is  He  to 
be  lifted  up  and  draw  all  these  unto  Him  ? 


••  i  e 


How  Save  It?  219 

Islam — How  save  it  ?  '!  These  first  five 
chapters  have  not  done  their  work  unless 
they  leave  us  exclaiming  with  salutary 
despair,  "  IMPOSSIBLE  "  !  The  next  three 
will  be  failures  unless  we  close  them  calmly 
saying,  "  POSSIBLE." 

And  the  three  voyages  of  discovery  of 
the  past  compared  with  the  three  missionary 
journeys  that  await  us,  have  a  symmetry 
which  is  significant.  In  Chapter  III.  we  re 
viewed  the  deeds  of  Islam  in  the  past ; — how 
it  came  to  its  present  position  in  these  great 
lands ; — in  this  chapter  we  shall  review 
the  deeds  of  Christ's  Church  in  the  past, 
and  how  it  came  to  its  present  position 
in  these  same  lands.  In  Chapter  V.  we  sur 
veyed  the  present — how  Islam  works  to-day 
in  the  House  of  Islam: — in  Chapter  VII. 
we  shall  also  study  the  present — how  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  working  to-day  in  that 
House.  And  then  the  last  chapter  shall  give 
its  reply  to  the  first ; — the  first  vision  of  the 
extent  of  the  need  shall  be  met  by  a  last 
vision  of  the  need  answered,  as  we  look  for 
ward  to  the  time  when  "  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  His  Christ,  and  He  shall  reign 
for  ever  and  ever." 


220      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Early  Christian  How  does  Christianity  compare  with 
Islam?  Instead  of  the  steady,  ordered, 
rapid,  and  resistless  march  of  the  latter, 
we  have  a  history  of  effort  that  was 
first  feeble  to  the  point  of  non-existence, 
then  mistaken,  individual,  and  fitful, 
often,  indeed,  and,  for  long,  utterly 
eclipsed;  and  that  only  in  recent  times 
has  shown  signs  of  stability,  and  unity, 
and  purpose.  We  have  seen  the  weak 
and  degenerate  state  of  the  Church  of 
both  East  and  West  at  the  time  of  the 
rising  of  the  Crescent.  The  extraordinary 
successes  of  the  "  Saracens  "  seemed  utterly 
to  paralyse  the  missionary  spirit  of  the 
Church.  At  that  time  there  was  missionary 
spirit  in  the  West,  for  did  not  the  centuries 
from  that  of  the  Higra  onwards  see  the 
evangelisation  of  the  whole  of  Northern 
Europe,  a  work  that  bears  a  roll  of 
missionary  names  as  great  as  the  greatest 
— St  Aidan  of  Lindisfarne  (died  651), 
St  Augustine,  Boniface,  the  Apostle  of 
Germany  (715-755),  Anskar,  often  known 
as  the  Apostle  of  the  North  (ninth  cen 
tury),  and  a  host  of  less  well-known 
men. 

Nevertheless   it   was   not   to    the    Sara- 


How  Save  It?  221 

cens  that  these  men  went.  For  whatever 
reason,  the  fact  remains  that  until  Henry 
Martyn  landed  in  India,  in  1806,  the  history 
of  the  effort  of  Christendom  for  the  saving 
of  Islam  is  represented  by  just  one  or 
two  heroic  but  isolated  names  ;  and  by  one 
great  movement,  the  Crusades,  which  was 
not  so  much  for  the  saving  as  for  the 
destruction  of  Islam. 

In  the  century  after  Mohammed,  John  John  Damas- 
Darnascene,1   who   held  high   office   under  ^  died  circa 
the  Saracen  Caliph  of  Damascus,  at  least 
studied  Islam  and  attacked  it  in  his  writ 
ings.     A  section  of  a  larger  work  by  him 
is  on  "  the  superstition  of  the  Ishmaelites," 
and  there  are  also  remaining  two  short  dia 
logues  or  disputations  between  a  Christian 
and    a    Saracen.      Such    disputations    are 
going  on  still  to-day. 

Following  John  Damascene  comes  the  Apology  of  AI 
Apology  of  Al  Kindi.2  "  It  is  related  that  in 
the  time  of  Abdallah  al  Ma'mun,  there 
lived  a  man  of  Hashimite  descent  and  of 
Abbaside  lineage,  nearly  related  to  the 
Caliph.  The  same  was  famed  among  high 

1  Best  known  to  the  non-theologian  by  his  popular  hymn, 
"  Those  eternal  bowers/'  translated  from  his  Greek. 

2  Apology  of  Al  Kiudi  (c.  830).     From   Muir's  intro 
duction,  p.  14. 


222       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

and  low  for  devotion  to  Islam  and  for  the 
careful  observance  of  all  its  ordinances.  .  .  . 
This  person  had  a  friend,  learned  and 
virtuous,  endowed  with  the  gifts  of  culture 
and  science,  of  pure  and  noble  descent, 
and  distinguished  for  his  attachment  to 
the  Christian  Faith.  .  .  .  The  Hashimite 
wrote  to  the  Christian  a  letter.  .  .  . 
He  reminds  his  friend  that  he,  though 
a  Mohammedan,  is  himself  versed  in 
the  Scriptures  and  in  the  practices  and 
doctrines  of  the  various  Christian  sects,  and 
he  then  proceeds  to  explain  the  teaching 
of  Islam  and  to  press  its  acceptance  on 
him.  He  begs  of  his  friend  to  reply  without 
fear  or  favour.  .  .  .  The  Moslem's  letter 
occupies  only  23  of  165  pages — Al  Kindi's 
reply  142. 

"  While  our  Apologist  speaks  respectfully 
of  the  person  of  Mohammed,  he  vigorously 
denounces  his  claims  as  a  prophet,  and 
attacks  the  whole  system  of  Islam  with 
uncompromising  severity.  The  latter  part 
of  the  Apology  is  devoted  to  the  proofs  of 
Christianity,  and  to  our  Saviour's  Life  and 
Teaching." 

John  Damascene  and  Al  Kindi,  though 
their  efforts  were  individual  and  unsup- 


How  Save  It  ?  223 

ported,  pointed  the  way  to  a  method  which 
even  to-day  needs  many  more  to  work  it 
out — the  patient  study  of  Islam  itself,  its 
language,  literature  and  thought,  and  the 
publication  of  works,  apologetic  and  ag 
gressive,  calculated  to  win  its  followers. 

The  centuries  passed.  In  the  twelfth,  The  Crusades. 
Christendom  made  its  greatest  effort — the 
Crusades.  The  Crusaders  came  against 
Islam  with  the  sword,  but  not  with  the  Sword 
of  the  Spirit ;  with  the  Cross  on  their  shields, 
but  not  dominating  their  souls.  Rivers 
of  blood  flowed,  prodigies  of  valour  were 
displayed,  but  what  was  effected  ?  It  may 
be  that  the  Crusaders  had  their  place  in 
the  providential  scheme — occupying  the 
attention  of  the  Moslems  while  Europe 
was  very  slowly  passing  from  weakness  to 
strength,  was  very  slowly  becoming  con 
scious  of  herself.  But  from  a  religious 
point  of  view  the  result  of  the  growth  was 
yet  further  to  embitter  the  relation  be 
tween  Christian  and  Moslem,  and  to 
obscure  the  true  spiritual  issue  that  the 
Moslem  problem  really  presented  and 
presents.  Church  and  State  were  one,  and 
the  strong  arm  of  Caesar  was  wielding  his 
sword  on  behalf  of  the  Church,  while  she 


224      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

on  her  part  but  feebly  used  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit. 

Petrus  Vener-        Yet  in  those  very  days  some  few  isolated 
Us,  died  1157-  individuals  perceived  that  Islam  could  not 
be  cured  by  any  remedy  so   homeopathic 
as    force.     Petrus    Venerabilis,    the  Bene 
dictine  Abbot  of  Clugny  (d.  1157),  studied 
Islam    with    sympathy    and    scholarship. 
He  was  the  first  to  translate  the  Koran 
into     any    European    language,     and    he 
pleaded   for   the   translation   of   Scripture 
into  Arabic.     He  wrote  controversial  books, 
and    declared    his    regret    that    he    could 
not  contend  in  person  against  Islam.     He 
urged  that   Christianity  must  for  its  own 
life   "  defend  itself   against  Mohammedan 
attacks  and  win  Moslems  by  our  proof  of 
the    truth."      Another    word     of     his  :— 
"  Whether  Mohammed's  error  is  denounced 
as  heresy,  or  as  pagan,  or  heathen,  we  must 
oppose  it  by  our  pens,  we  must  oppose  it 
by  our  deeds."     He  condemns  the  Crusade 
as    a  failure,   and   in   the   very   spirit  of 
Raymund  Lull  said :   "I  come  to  win  the 
Moslem  not  as  people  oft   do  with  arms, 
but  with   words  :    not    by   force,    but   by 
reason :  not  in  hatred,  but  in  love."    These 
are  brave  and  great  sayings. 


RELEASED    SLAVES 


SLAVE-MARKET,    ZANZIBAR 
ARABS,    PURCHASERS,    AND    SLAVES 


How  Save  It?  225 

Sweet  St  Francis  of  Assisi,  he  too,  through  st  Francis  of 


the  Spirit  of  Christ  that  was  in  him,  yearned          '  * 


after  the  Saracen  who  knew  not  his  Lord. 
It  sounds  more  like  the  romance  of  one  of 
his  own  miracles  than  sober  missionary 
reality  to  read  how  in  1219  he  suddenly 
broke  away  from  his  marvellous  work  in 
Italy,  and  sailed  to  Egypt,  and  met  there 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  El  Kamil  —  face  to  face. 
A  contemporary  notice  of  this  spiritual  ex 
ploit  is  given  in  a  letter  by  a  Crusader  :— 

"  Having  come  into  our  army  he  has  not  been 
afraid  in  his  zeal  for  the  faith  to  go  to  that  of  our 
enemies.  For  days  together  he  announced  the 
Word  of  God  to  the  Saracens,  but  with  little 
success  ;  then  the  Sultan,  King  of  Egypt,  asked 
him  in  secret  to  entreat  God  to  reveal  to  him  by 
some  miracle  which  is  the  best  religion." 

Raymund  Lull  is  the  real  miracle  of 
mediaeval  Christendom  in  relation  to  Islam.  Raymund  Lull, 
A  missionary  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek  : 
—without  ancestry  —  alas  !  without  pos 
terity.  Without  forerunner  before  him,  or 
support  during  his  life,  or  followers  to  carry 
on  his  work  or  work  out  his  glowing  ideas, 
he  resembles  a  brilliant  meteor  that  flashes 
through  the  midnight  sky,  only  to  emphasise 
the  darkness  that  preceded,  the  darkness 
that  followed 


226      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

(a)  Early  years.  Lull  was  born  in  the  island  of  Majorca 
in  1235,  and  grew  up  under  the  shadow 
of  the  disappointment  and  depression 
of  the  failure  of  the  first  Crusades. 
Nor  was  the  fact  that  his  father  had 
helped  in  the  victorious  movement  against 
the  Saracens  in  the  West  calculated  to 
sweeten  the  family  feeling  in  regard 
to  them.  The  first  thirty  years  of  Lull's 
life  were  passed  in  the  island  of  his  birth, 
and  in  Spain  at  the  court  of  James  II., 
King  of  Aragon.  His  history  strongly 
reminds  us  of  Francis  of  Assisi  and  of 
Zinzendorf.  Each  of  them  was  popular 
in  the  world,  a  lover  of  pleasure  rather  than 
a  lover  of  God.  .  .  .  And  then  to  each  of 
them  came  in  youth  the  appealing  vision  of 
the  Crucified,  and  each  of  them  was  obedient 
to  the  heavenly  vision,  and  bore  on  the 
whole  of  his  remaining  life  the  stigmata 
of  His  Cross.  Raymund  Lull  had  every 
thing  this  world  could  give  him  :  brilliant, 
versatile,  splendidly  successful;  knight, 
poet,  musician,  scholar,  philosopher,  noble 
man,  courtier,  gallant; — what  lacked  he 
yet  ?  The  answer  came  when,  in  the  midst 
of  composing  a  love-ballad,  troubadour-like, 
he  saw  a  vision  of  Christ  Crucified,  thrice 


How  Save  It?  227 

repeated.  Henceforth  he  renounced  his 
careless,  sensual  life,  and  dedicated  those 
nobler  powers  of  which  that  life  had  all 
along  been  unworthy.  Henceforth  his 
motto  became,  "  He  that  loves  not,  lives 
not,  and  he  that  lives  by  the  Life  cannot 
die."  This,  then,  is  the  first  thing  that 
distinguishes  Lull  from  many  of  his  time  : 
— his  religion  was  a  passionate  personal 
faith,  inwrought  in  him  by  a  direct  personal 
conversion  through  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 

From  now  onward  his  actions  have  a 
quality  and  are  wrought  on  a  scale  that 
are  almost  incredible.  He  began  by  a 
period  of  retirement  and  solitary  study 
that  lasted  nine  years !  That,  perhaps, 
was  quite  in  keeping  with  his  time  :  but 
the  resolution  formed  then,  takes  him  out 
of  his  time  altogether,  and  sets  him,  in 
reality,  alongside  of  Henry  Martyn  more 
than  half  a  millennium  later.  It  was  the 
resolution  to  dedicate  his  life  to  the 
evangelisation  of  Islam. 

Did  we  half  say  that  Francis  of  Assisi's 
going  to  Egypt  and  facing  its  Sultan  at 
Damietta  was  a  pious  extravaganza,  pro 
fitless,  hair-brained  ?  How  we  judge  by 
immediate  results  !  But  occasionally  God 


228      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

makes  visible  for  a  moment  the  unseen 
substratum  of  moral  cause  and  effect,  and 
opens  our  blind  eyes  that  they  may  see. 
For  behold  it  was  that  extravaganza,  as 
beautiful,  sad,  and  simple  as  a  child's, 
which  when  recounted  by  a  Franciscan 
monk  to  Raymund  Lull  inspired  the  young 
Major  can  nobleman  with  the  decision  to 
be  a  missionary  to  Islam  !  Is  the  chain 
of  this  apostolic  succession  terminated  ? 
or  is  the  recounting  of  Lull's  life  once 
more  to  cause  his  isolated  life-deed  to 
bring  forth,  at  last,  its  late  fruit  ? 

Lull's  decision  was  unheard  of,  undreamed 
of.  The  Saracens  were  loathed  as  the  con 
querors  in  the  East,  hated  as  the  partially 
vanquished  in  the  West.  The  attitude  of 
the  whole  Church  towards  Islam  then 
was  the  attitude  of  a  great  part  of 
the  Church  towards  Islam  to-day — "  Let 
it  alone."  And  Lull's  first  claim  to  un 
dying  memory  is  that  alone  and  unaided, 
this  son  of  the  Crusades  formulated  the 
duty  of  the  Church  towards  Islam,  with  a 
clearness  that  is  absolutely  unsurpassable, 
thus  : — 

"I  see  many  knights   going  to  the    Holy   Land 
beyond   the   seas,  and  thinking   that  they  can  ac- 


How  Save  It  ?  229 

quire  it  by  force  of  arms  :  but  in  the  end  all  are 
destroyed  before  they  attain  that  which  they  think 
to  have.  Whence  it  seems  to  me  that  the  conquest 
of  the  Holy  Land  ought  not  to  be  attempted 
except  in  the  way  in  which  Thou  and  Thine  Apostles 
acquired  it,  namely,  by  love  and  prayers  and  the  pouring 
oid  of  tears  and  blood." 

This  one  sentence  is  enough  to  place  Lull 
in  the  front  of  the  greatest  missionary- 
saints  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

"  Language  study  "  has  a  familiar  ring  (b)  Language 
to  the  modern  missionary.  Lull  set  an 
unsurpassed  standard  in  the  matter  of 
language  study.  Then  there  were  no 
grammars,  dictionaries,  ready  -  made  lan 
guage  teachers,  and  the  rest ;  what  should 
he  do  ?  He  was  driven  to  purchase  a 
Moslem  slave  (he  must  have  been  a  highly 
educated  one),  and  with  his  aid  studied  the 
Arabic  language — for  nine  years  ! 

During  these  nine  years  he  was  also  en-  (c)  Literary 
gaged  on  one  of  the  most  celebrated  works  ™ 
of  mediaeval  philosophy — for  which,  indeed, 
in  some  quarters  his  name  is  alone  known, 
in  its  Latinised  form  of  Lully  (Lullius}.     It 
is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  many  pathetic  things 
about   this    great    hero   that   to  this  day 
in   the   philosophical    schools     of    Oxford, 
Cambridge,    and  the  Continent,  his   name 


230      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

is  merely  connected  with  an  exploded  system 
of  scholastic  philosophy.  And  the  pathos 
is  increased  when  one  learns  the  reason  for 
which  he  composed  that  work.  It  was 
wholly  and  entirely  a  means  of  forwarding 
the  one  end  of  his  whole  life — the  convinc 
ing  of  the  Moslems  of  Christian  truth.  Like 
Bacon's  Novum  Orgamim,  Lull's  Ars  Major 
was  to  be  an  infallible  key — not,  however, 
to  the  truths  of  nature,  but  to  the  truths 
of  God.  To-day  the  book  is  dead,  dead 
with  the  whole  scholastic  system  which 
gave  it  birth  :  in  its  day,  however,  it  may 
well  have  served  its  definite  purpose,  for 
the  philosophical  thought  of  Islam  in  those 
days  was  as  scholastic  and  Aristotelian  as 
that  of  Christendom.  Nevertheless  to  us 
there  is  an  eternal  lesson  to  be  learned  from 
the  writer  of  Ars  Major, — that  the  presenta 
tion  of  Christian  truth  and  the  cause  of 
missions  in  general,  and  missions  to  Moslems 
in  particular,  are  worthy  of  the  highest 
talent,  *  and  the  highest  creative  effort 
that  our  educational  system  can  produce. 
We  learn,  too,  what  is  hardly  sufficiently 
recognised  to-day,  that  home-work  and 
foreign-work  are  one,  and  that  in  the 
domain  of  theological  research  itself  the 


How  Save  It?  231 

impact  of  one  on  the  other  ought  to  lead 
to  creative  work.  For  A rs  Major  was  not 
composed  for  Moslem  missions  alone,  but 
for  the  whole  Church,  a  system  by  which 
every  thinking  man  might  arrive  at  the 
truth.  When  Ars  Major  was  finished,  Lull 
began  to  lecture  on  it  in  public.  His  aim 
was  two-fold, — to  strengthen  the  "  home  (d)  influence  on 

m          i    55   •      ••      IP  i    .  i          -j.  j.     11      home  Church. 

Church  in  itself,  and  to  awaken  it  to  the 
duty  and  possibility  of  Moslem  evangelis 
ation.  The  latter  idea  became  a  passion 
with  him.  Forerunner  of  those  who,  from 
Charles  Simeon  to  our  own  day,  have  seen 
the  importance  of  winning  the  Universities, 
he  persuaded  the  king  to  found  and  endow 
a  monastery  which  should  be  simply  a 
Missionary  College.  He  tried  to  organise 
other  Missionary  Colleges  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  He  lectured  at  the 
Universities,  he  interviewed  Kings  and 
Church  leaders,  and  stood  before  Church 
Councils  and  Assemblies,  and  was  not 
ashamed.  For  his  object  was,  in  his  own 
words,  "  to  gain  over  the  shepherds  of  the 
Church  and  the  princes  of  Europe."  He 
went  to  the  highest  in  the  Church ;  he 
appealed  to  the  Pope  to  help  the  Foreign 
Missionary  movement.  But  the  great  man 


232       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

was  not  worthy;  and  the  leaders  of  the 
Church  had  more  "  important "  things  to 
do.  How  do  those  "  irnportant "  things 
look  to-day  ? 

But  Lull's  whole  soul  was  in  the  idea. 
He  says  : 

"  I  had  a  wife  and  children ;  I  was  tolerably 
rich  ;  I  led  a  secular  life.  All  these  things  I  cheer 
fully  resigned  for  the  sake  of  promoting  the  common 
good,  and  diffusing  abroad  the  common  faith.  I 
learned  Arabic.  I  have  several  times  gone  abroad 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Saracens.  I  have  for 
the  sake  of  the  faith  been  cast  into  prison  and 
scourged.  I  have  laboured  for  fortij-fivt  years  to  gain 
over  the  shepherds  of  the  Church,  and  the  princes  of 
Europe  to  the  common  good  of  Christendom.  Now  I 
am  old  and  poor,,  but  still  I  am  intent  on  the  same 
object.  I  will  persevere  in  it  till  death,  if  the  Lord 
permits  it." 

And  then  the  wonderful  insight  of  his 
plans  for  the  curriculum  of  these  Colleges  ! 
It  included,  of  course,  a  thorough  training 
in  theology :  but  not  only  so,  in  philosophy 
also,  in  Arabic  language  and  literature,  and 
in  the  geography  of  Missions.  The  very 
germ  of  the  present  Missionary  Study  scheme 
is  in  this  last  idea.  He  wrote,  and  his 
words  could  not  be  improved  on  to-day  :— 

"  Knowledge  of  the  regions  of  the  world  is 
strongly  necessary  for  the  republic  of  believers  and 


How  Save  It?  233 

the  conversion  of  unbelievers,  and  for  withstanding 
infidels  and  antichrists.  The  man  unacquainted 
with  geography  is  ignorant  where  he  walks  or 
whither  he  leads.  Whether  he  attempts  the  con 
version  of  infidels,  or  works  for  other  interests  of 
the  Church,  it  is  indispensable  that  he  know  the 
religion  and  environment  of  all  nations." 

Yet  the  man  was  alone !  His  inspired 
suggestions  were  not  taken  up ;  his  appeals, 
with  all  their  character  of  intrinsic  great 
ness,  were  unheeded.  Hear  him  once 
more.  The  words  have  the  ring  of  an 
Augustine — nay,  is  there  not  something  in 
them  greater  than  even  Augustine  ?— 

"I  find  scarcely  anyone,  O  Lord,  who  out  of 
love  to  Thee  is  ready  to  suffer  martyrdom,  as  Thou 
hast  suffered  for  us.  It  appears  to  me  agreeable  to 
reason,  if  an  ordinance  to  that  effect  could  be 
obtained,  that  Thy  monks  should  learn  various . 
languages,  that  they  might  be  able  to  go  out  and 
surrender  their  lives  in  love  to  Thee.  .  .  .  O  Lord 
of  Glory,  if  that  blessed  day  should  ever  be,  in 
which  I  might  see  Thy  holy  monks  so  influenced 
by  zeal  to  glorify  Thee,  as  to  go  to  foreign  lands  in 
order  to  testify  of  Thy  holy  ministry,  of  Thy  blessed 
Incarnation,  and  of  Thy  bitter  sufferings,  that 
would  be  a  glorious  day,  a  day  in  which  that  flow 
of  devotion  would  return  with  which  the  holy 
apostles  met  death  for  their  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Nobly  did  he  make  good  his  word.     At 
the  age  of  seventy -five,  after  returning  from 


234      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

terrible  labours  in  North  Africa,  he  actually 
"  conceived  the  idea  of  founding  an  order 

o 

of  spiritual  knights  who  should  be  ready  to 
preach  to  the  Saracens,  and  to  recover  the 
tomb  of  Christ  by  a  crusade  of  love." l 
This  at  a  time  when  the  Pope  and  Councils 
of  the  Church  were  trying  to  work  up  another 
Crusade  of  the  old  type  !  Yet  some  re 
ligious  Genoese  noblemen  and  ladies  of 
rank  had  offered  to  contribute  30,000 
gilders  for  the  enterprise,  and  one  word 
of  encouragement  from  Pope  Clement  V., 
or  the  General  Council  of  Paris,  might  have 
set  on  foot  a  spiritual  and  missionary 
movement,  a  Roman  Church  Missionary 
Society,  with  incalculable  results.  But 
that  word  was  not  spoken.  For  the 
'thousandth  time  the  first  things  were  put 
last  and  the  last  first.  The  leaders  of  the 
Church  did  not  lead — nor  even  follow ;  and 
the  dauntless  old  man,  now  in  his  seventy- 
ninth  year,  went  back  to  North  Africa, 
disdaining  the  idea  of  rest  or  retirement, 
to  win  there  a  martyr's  crown.  But  this  is 
anticipating. 
(e)  Among  the  it  is  among  the  many  marks  of  Lull's 

Moslems.  ...         .   , 

first-rate  greatness  that  his  mighty  purpose 

1  Zwemer,  "  Raymond  Lull,"  p.  7fi. 


How  Save  It?  235 

never  flagged,  not  even  under  the  depression 
of  ill-success,  want  of  support,  nor  increasing 
years.  How  many  men  are  capable  of 
starting  an  arduous  quest  at  four  years 
less  than  sixty  ?  Yet  it  was  at  this  age 
that  Lull  calmly  determined  to  teach  by  his 
example  what  the  Church  refused  to  learn 
from  his  precept,  and  to  drive  home  the  duty 
of  missionary  effort  by  sailing  for  Moslem 
North  Africa.  And  that  in  the  very  year 
of  the  fall  of  Acre,  which  rang  the  death- 
knell  of  Christian  authority  in  Palestine, 
and  must  have  sent  a  thrill  of  fierce,  in 
tolerant  exultation  mingled  with  hate  and 
contempt  through  the  whole  of  the  Moslem 
world  !  He  set  out  alone,  with  the  eyes 
of  all  Genoa  curiously  fixed  upon  him.  He 
was  like  the  man  who,  having  constructed 
an  elaborate  flying  machine,  came  to  the 
day  when  he  had  before  all  men  to  adven 
ture  his  life  in  it  himself.  Then  it  was  that 
the  thought  of  the  dreadful  life  and  per 
haps  death  that  awaited  him  in  Africa 
drowned  every  other  consideration.  .  .  . 
He  faltered  !  and  his  ship  sailed  without 
its  passenger.  .  .  .  Knowing  what  Lull 
was,  we  get  the  most  thrilling  insight 
through  this  one  simple  fact  into  the  awful 


236      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

nature  of  the  task  this  man  had  set  him 
self,  and  into  that  man's  own  heart.     The 
agony    of    his    soul    oppressed    his    body, 
out  of  measure,  even  unto  death,  so  much 
so  that  his  friends  carried  him  away  from 
a  second  ship  in  which  he  had  embarked, 
certain  that  his  life  could  not  last  out  the 
voyage.     News    of   yet   a   third   ship   was 
brought,  and  he  finally  determined  to  push 
forward.     From  that  moment  he  tells  us 
he  "  was  a  new  man."     Peace  came  to  his 
agonised  spirit,  and,  with  it,  health  to  his 
body.   The  ship  sailed,  and  Lull  was  aboard. 
In  Tunis  for  two  years  he  disputed,  made 
and  shepherded  converts,  was  imprisoned, 
sentenced  to  death,  and  finally  banished. 
In  Majorca  and  Cyprus  he  preached  to  Jews 
as  well  as  Moslems,  in  Armenia  for  a  year 
he  laboured  among  the  Nestorians.    Return 
ing  to  North  Africa,  at  Bugia  in  Algeria 
he  disputed  for  a  year  and  a  half,  again  made 
a  circle  of  converts,  and  again  was  thrown 
into  a  dungeon,  and  plied,  this  time,  with 
worldly  temptations   for   six  months   and 
urged  to  apostatise.      Finally  he  was  de 
ported  with  ignominy,  and  ship -wrecked  on 
the  coast  of  Italy.     Last  of  all,  when  he  saw 
that  he  had  done  all,  and  that  henceforth 


How  Save  It?  237 

there  was  only  left  for  him  the  departing 
from  this  life,  he  returned  to  Bugia,  where 
he  encouraged  his  converts  for  one  whole 
year  in  seclusion,  finally  coming  boldly 
forth,  the  old  hero  of  eighty  years  of  age  ! 
He  faced  the  raging  mob  with  the  world 
behind  his  back,  and  his  face  as  of  a  man 
who  pleads  with  souls,  till  they  dragged  him, 
like  Stephen,  outside  the  city-wall,  and 
there  stoned  him  to  death.  He  had  fought 
the  good  fight,  he  had  finished  his  course, 
he  had  kept  the  faith,  he  had  gained  the 
martyr's  crown.  Who  follows  in  his  train  ? 

We  have  seen  how  supremely  great  Lull  (f)  His  methods, 
was  in  respect  of  his  missionary  ideals. 
In  two  respects  was  he  also  supremely 
great  in  respect  of  his  methods,  judged 
by  the  most  modern  standard  ; — in  the 
use  of  the  hardest  and  most  exacting 
method  of  all,  controversy,  both  private 
and  public,  and  in  his  manner  of  pre 
senting  the  truth.  In  regard  to  the  first, 
prophetic  fire  and  love  must  have  been 
joined  to  the  supreme  ability  given  by 
absolute  command  of  language  or  sub 
ject,  for  we  know  that,  like  Pfander  in 
the  Punjab,  he  made  converts  by  his 
disputations.  In  regard  to  the  second 


238      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

point,  though  he  did  not  neglect  the  com 
paratively  easy  task  of  criticising  the 
prophet  of  Islam,  he  concentrated  all  his 
religious,  theological,  and  philosophical 
acumen  on  showing  the  hopeless  inade 
quacy  of  its  conception  of  God.  And  his 
negative  criticism  is  accompanied  by  a  glow 
ing  positive  teaching  on  the  philosophy 
of  distinctively  Christian  truth,  which  is 
expounded  with  a  vitality  and  vigour  that 
raise  a  doubt  whether  even  now  mis 
sionary  thought  itself  has  quite  absorbed 
all  that  is  contained  in  it. 

(g-)Hisapos-  In  an  age  when  the  Moslem  was  hated 
and  fought  with,  he  loved  him  and  sought 
to  win  him.  In  an  age  when  the  Jew  was 
spitted  upon,  he,  as  though  the  former  task 
were  not  big  enough  for  his  great  heart, 
preached  to  him  and  strove  to  gain  him. 
In  an  age  of  strife  when  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
and  of  love  was  little  experienced,  this  man 
lived  a  life  which  was  one  long  martyrdom 
of  service  for  men  in  the  power  of  the  love 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Spirit  of  His  Son. 

The  glorious  Company  of  the  Apostles  praise  Thee, 
The  goodly  Fellowship  of  the  Prophets  praise  Thee. 
The  Noble  Army  of  Martyrs  praise  Thee. 

Even  so.     Amen. 


How  Save  It?  239 

Lull  was  martyred  in  1315.     The  meteor 
disappeared,  the  night  remained. 

Until  the  dawn  of  the  modern  movement  The  Jesuits 
in  the  eighteenth  century  the  greatest 
heroes  of  foreign  missions  in  the  interval 
were  undoubtedly  the  Jesuits,  whose  deeds 
and  terrible  sufferings  for  the  cause  are  all 
too  little  known  or  recognised  or  praised. 
Their  great  and  typical  representative  mis 
sionary  is  Francis  Xavier,  and  this  extra 
ordinary  man,  who  evangelised  in  India 
and  in  Japan,  and  died  in  a  transport  of 
longing  to  enter  the  Great  Closed  Land, 
China,  did  not  ignore  the  Mohammedan 
question,  as  though  not  to  leave  so  much 
as  one  of  the  Giants  toespair  of  missionary 
effort  unattacked.  He  was  hardly  less 
thorough  or  less  brave  than  Lull ;  for  he 
studied  for  twelve  years,  wrote  a  most 
able  apology,  and  held  many  disputations 
with  Mohammedan  mullahs  in  India,  de 
fending  every  point  of  Christian  doctrine 
and  exposing  the  error  of  the  Mohammedan 
position.  And  he  only  quitted  this  work 
to  go  on  in  the  very  spirit  of  heroism  to 
Japan  and  to  China,  and  to  lay  down  his 
life  off  the  coast  of  the  latter,  pressing  on, 


240      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

even  to  the  end.  Who  follows  in  his 
train  ? 

Henry  Martyn,  It  makes  one  realise  how  utterly  this  vast 
problem  has  been  neglected  when  we  find 
ourselves  obliged,  after  Xavier,  to  make 
another  leap,  this  time  of  two  hundred 
years.  This  brings  us  to  the  third  great 
name,  for  learning,  intensity,  and  burning 
faith  and  love,  worthy  to  stand  beside  the 
other  two — Henry  Martyn.  With  him  the 
modern  enterprise  really  begins — the  others 
were  but  voices  in  the  wilderness  ;  but  after 
Martyn,  the  work,  that  he  laid  down  in 
death  at  the  age  of  thirty-one,  was  soon 
caught  up  by  Pfander  and  others,  and 
since  then  it  has  been  carried  on  uninter 
ruptedly  with  slowly  increasing  momentum. 
Martyn's  life,  except  in  respect  of  its  short 
ness,  reminds  us  indeed  at  every  point  of 
his  great  predecessor  Lull. 

(a)  His  prepara-  He  was  Senior  Wrangler  at  Cambridge, 
and  subsequently  studied  Sanskrit,  Persian, 
and  Arabic.  In  the  field  he  further  developed 
his  wonderful  linguistic  gift,  for  he  learned 
Hindustani,  a  distinctively  Mohammedan 
language,  and  improved  his  knowledge  of 
Sanskrit,  Arabic,  and  Persian.  To  his 
intense  self-preparation  in  the  Spirit  and  in 


B 


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FACSIMILE    OF    PAKT    OF    LULL  S    \VRITIN(iS 


TI1K    OLD    GATEWAY    OF    IiU(iIA 

With  acknowledgments  to  Messrs  Funk  <t   Wagnall 


How  Save  It?  241 

the  Word  of  God  his  journals  bear. the  most 
eloquent  witness. 

Like  St  Paul  he  would  let  nothing  hinder  (b)  Work  in 
him  from  preaching  the  Gospel,  impelled  India' 
ever  onward  by  the  Spirit.  Were  mission 
aries  not  allowed  by  the  East  India  Com 
pany  to  enter  India  ?  Then  he  would  enter 
as  a  Chaplain — a  Chaplain  who  intended 
to  do  missionary  work !  He  had  laid 
literally  his  all  on  the  altar,  his  name  and 
his  fame,  the  one  love  of  his  life,  his  whole 
earthly  future  and  his  whole  earthly  joy, 
and  then  he  could  utter  the  famous  words, 
"Now  let  me  burn  out  for  God."  He 
laboured  intensely  in  India  for  five  years 
(1806-1811),  chiefly  at  Dinapore  and  Cawn- 
pore,  and  he  was,  like  Lull,  given  the  crown 
of  the  conversion  of  souls. 

In  Martyn's  day  the  Bible  Society  was  in 
its  infancy — nay  its  cradle,  and  translations 
of  the  Scripture  were  still  non-existent. 
He  immediately  saw  that  his  first  and 
chiefest  effort  must  be  directed  towards 
remedying  this  defect :  he  therefore  trans 
lated  the  New  Testament  into  Hindustani, 
"  and  studied  Sanscrit  with  a  view  to 
translating  it  into  other  Indian  languages." 
The  Hindustani  translation  was  completed 


242      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

in  March^  1808,  and  Martyn  at  once  set  to 
work  on  a  Persian  version  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  also  worked  hard  at  Arabic. 
His  disappointment  was  great  when,  in  the 
summer  of  1810,  the  verdict  he  received 
from  Calcutta  regarding  his  Persian  version 
was  that  it  was  "  deemed  unfit  for  general 
circulation,  as  it  abounded  with  Arabic 
idioms,  and  was  written  in  too  difficult  a 
style  for  the  masses  of  the  people."  After 
prayer  Martyn  "  instantly  resolved  ...  to 
go  into  Arabia  and  Persia,  for  the  purpose 
of  collecting  the  opinions  of  learned  natives 
with  respect  to  the  Persian  translation 
which  had  been  rejected,  as  well  as  of  the 
Arabic  version,  which  was  yet  incomplete, 
though  nearly  finished."  As  he  passed 
through  Calcutta  his  friends  were  distressed 
at  his  bad  health.  "  He  is  on  his  way  to 
Arabia,"  writes  one,  .  .  .  "in  pursuit  of 
health  and  knowledge.  You  know  his 
genius,  and  what  gigantic  strides  he  takes 
in  everything.  He  has  some  great  plan  in 
his  mind,  of  which  I  am  no  competent 
judge  ;  but  as  far  as  I  do  understand  it, 
the  object  is  far  too  grand  for  one  short 
life,  and  much  beyond  his  feeble  and  ex 
hausted  frame.  .  .  .  His  complaint  lies 


How  Save  It?  243 

in  his  lungs  and  appears  to  be  an  incipient 
consumption."  .  .  .  He  himself  writes : 
"  Arabia  shall  hide  me  till  I  come  forth  with 
an  approved  New  Testament  in  Arabic.  .  .  . 
I  cannot  devote  my  life  to  a  more  important 
work  than  that  of  preparing  the  Arabic 
'Bible." 

Martyn    reached    Muscat    in    Arabia   in  (c)  Work  in 

Persia 

April  1811,  and  on  arriving  at  Shiraz  in 
June,  he  ascertained  the  general  correct 
ness  of  the  Calcutta  opinion  of  his  version 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  at  once  set  to 
work  on  a  new  translation.  This  was 
finished  in  February,  1812,  and  a  Persian 
version  of  the  Psalms  by  the  middle  of 
March.  During  this  time  Martyn  took  part 
in  private  and  in  public  disputations.  Of 
one  public  disputation  he  writes  : 

"  I  called  on  ...  the  secretary  of  the  Kerman- 
shah  prince.  In  the  court  where  he  received  me, 
Mirza  Ibrahim  was  lecturing.  Finding  myself  so 
near  my  old  and  respectable  antagonist,,  I  expressed 
a  wish  to  see  him.  .  .  .  The  master  consented,  but 
some  of  the  disciples  demurred.  At  last,  one  of 
them  observing  that  '  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  the 
master's  conversation,  I  might  possibly  be  con 
verted,'  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  be  invited  to 
ascend.  Then  it  became  a  question  where  I  ought 
to  sit.  Below  all,  would  not  be  respectful  to  a 


244      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

stranger;  but  above  all  the  mullahs  could  not  be 
tolerated.  I  entered,  and  was  surprised  at  the 
numbers.  The  room  was  lined  with  mullahs  at 
both  sides  and  at  the  top.  I  was  about  to  sit  down 
at  the  door,  but  I  was  beckoned  to  an  empty  place 
near  the  top,  opposite  to  the  master,  who,  after  the 
usual  compliments,  without  further  ceremony,  asked 
me,  '  what  we  meant  by  calling  Christ  God  ? '  War 
being  thus  unequivocally  declared,  I  had  nothing  to 
do  but  to  stand  upon  the  defensive.  Mirza  Ibrahim 
argued  temperately  enough,  but  of  the  rest,  some 
were  very  violent  and  clamorous.  The  former  asked, 
'  if  Christ  had  ever  called  Himself  God,  was  He  the 
Creator  or  a  creature  ? '  I  replied,  '  The  Creator.' 
The  mullahs  looked  at  one  another.  Such  a  con 
fession  had  never  before  been  heard  among  these 
Mohammedan  doctors. 

st  One  mullah  wanted  to  controvert  some  of  my 
illustrations,  by  interrogating  me  about  the  per 
sonality  of  Christ.  To  all  his  questions  I  replied 
by  requesting  the  same  information  about  his  own 
person. 

"To  another,  who  was  rather  contemptuous  and 
violent,  I  said,  '  If  you  do  not  approve  of  our 
doctrine,  will  you  be  so  good  as  to  say  what  God  is, 
according  to  you,  that  I  may  worship  a  proper 
object?'  One  said,  'The  author  of  the  universe.' 
'  I  can  form  no  idea  from  these  words,'  said  I,  '  but 
of  a  workman  at  work  upon  a  vast  number  of 
materials.  Is  that  a  correct  notion?'  Another 
said,  '  One  who  came  of  Himself  into  being.'  '  So 
then  He  came,'  I  replied,  fout  of  one  place  into 
another,  and  before  He  came,  He  was  not.  Is  this 
an  abstract  and  refined  notion  ? '  After  this  no  one 


How  Save  It?  245 

asked  me  any  more  questions,  and  for  fear  the 
dispute  should  be  renewed,  Jaffir  AH  Khan  carried 
me  away." 

As  regards  Martyn's  work  in  Persia,  his 
journal  of  Feb.  18  records  : 

"  This  is  my  birthday,  on  which  I  complete  my 
thirty-first  year.  The  Persian  New  Testament  has 
been  begun,  and,  I  may  say,  finished  in  it.  ... 
Such  a  painful  year  I  never  passed ;  owing  to  the 
privations  I  have  been  called  to  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  spectacle  before  me  of  human  depravity  on 
the  other.  .  .  ." 

In  May  Martyn  left  Shiraz  for  Tabriz,  (d)  Last 
intending  to  present  his  translation  of  the 
New  Testament  to  the  king  of  Persia.  The 
journey  was  full  of  difficulties  and  trials, 
and  on  his  arrival,  the  presentation  was  not 
allowed.  His  health  completely  gave  way, 
and  in  September,  having  somewhat  re 
covered  from  two  months  of  fever,  he 
determined  to  return  to  England  by  way 
of  Constantinople,  facing  a  land  journey 
of  1300  miles.  He  suffered  terribly  from 
privations,  delays,  and  fever.  The  last 
entry  in  his  journal  is  Oct.  6  : 

"  No  horses  being  to  be  had,  I  had  an  unexpected 
repose.  I  sat  in  the  orchard,  and  thought  with 
sweet  comfort  and  peace  of  my  God  ;  in  solitude 
my  company,  my  friend  and  comforter.  Oh,  when 


246      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

shall  time  give  place  to  eternity  ?  When  shall 
appear  that  new  heaven  and  new  earth  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness  ?  There,  there  shall  in 
nowise  enter  in  anything  that  defileth :  none  of 
that  wickedness  which  has  made  men  worse  than 
wild  beasts, — none  of  those  corruptions  which  add 
still  more  to  the  miseries  of  mortality,  shall  be  seen 
or  heard  of  any  more." 

Ten  days  later  at  Tokat  in  Armenia 
absolutely  alone,  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  he  laid  down  his  life  at  the  age  of 
thirty-one,  a  sacrifice  to  the  plague,  or  to 
the  fever  which  was  so  constant  during  his 
journey.  Years  before  in  India  he  had 
written  :  "  Even  if  I  should  never  see  a 
native  converted,  God  may  design  by  my 
patience  and  continuance  in  the  Word  to 
encourage  future  missionaries."  Most 
richly  has  this  word  been  fulfilled  :  few 
lives  have  proved  a  greater  inspiration 
than  this  one  with  its  missionary  career 
of  six  years.  Who  follows  in  his  train  ? 
Pfander  at  In  the  next  decade  the  work  was  carried 

, J  25-  5-  forwarci?  though  still  by  almost  isolated 
individuals,  Pfander  in  Persia,  Wolff  in 
Persia,  Lovat  and  others  in  Egypt ;  in 
1820,  too,  Sumatra  was  reached. 

Pfander  was  a  German-Swiss,  who  worked 
in  Persia  for  twelve   years,   in    India    at 


How  Save  It?  247 

Agra  and  Peshawar,  and  later  in  Constan 
tinople.  He  died  after  forty  years  of  service. 
He  was  the  first  whom  circumstances  Methods— 

i  T    !  ..  .    ,  i       •        i    j  (a)  Literature. 

enabled  to  write,  print,  and  circulate  a 
standard  controversial  work, — "  Mizan-ul- 
Hakh,  the  Balance  of  the  Truth."  It  was 
written  in  German  expressly  for  publication, 
and  expressly  to  suit  the  minds  of  Moham 
medans  :  by  himself  or  by  others  it  has  been 
translated  into  nearly  every  language  in 
which  mission  work  among  Moslems  is  done. 
Its  effect  has  been  very  great  indeed  ;  it 
has  been  answered  and  counter-answered  ; 
it  has  been  used  to  win  souls ;  to  this  day 
it  is  a  standard  work.  It  has  proved  the 
first  of  a  whole  great  literature,  which  every 
year  is  multiplying  and  increasing  in  volume 
and  range  for  the  winning  of  Moslems 
to  Christ. 

Pfander  possessed  the  three  great  re-  (b)  Controversy, 
quisites  for  public  controversy, — absolute 
command  of  the  subj  ect ;  absolute  command 
of  the  language-idiom,  the  thought-idiom, 
and  the  manner-idiom  of  the  people  with 
whom  he  spoke,  and  absolute  command 
of  himself.  His  memorable  public  contro 
versy  at  Agra,  at  •  which  Thomas  Valpy 
French  (afterwards  Bishop)  was  also  present, 


248      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

will  never  be  forgotten.  Both  sides  claimed 
the  victory  of  course,  but  two  of  the  ablest 
of  the  Sheikhs  on  the  Moslem  side  after 
wards  came  out  for  Christ !  names  ever 
memorable  in  Moslem-missionary  annals, 
Imad-ud-din  and  Safdar  Ali. 

Moslem  During  the  forty  years,   1825-1865,  the 

1825-1865.  cause  of  Moslem  missions  had  expanded, 
under  the  stress  of  the  great  nineteenth 
century  missionary  revival,  far  beyond  the 
limits  actually  indicated  by  Pf  ander's  career. 
Dutch  Missions  had  spread  to  the  East 
Indies,1  especially  Java  and  Sumatra.  The 
great  and  wonderful  expansion  of  Chinese 
missions  in  the  period,  has,  at  least,  brought 
the  Church  face  to  face  with  Islam  in  China, 
and  Moslems  will  increasingly  be  affected 
by  the  impact  of  the  Gospel  on  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  that  country.  In 
India,  French  and  many  others  were  carry 
ing  on  and  developing  the  work  of  Pfander  ; 
for  example  the  S.P.G.  began  that  work 
in  Delhi,  which,  when  later  reinforced  by 
the  Cambridge  Mission,  has  become  one  of 
the  greatest  of  Moslem  mission  enterprises. 
In  Persia  there  were  witnesses  for  Christ, 
missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  though 

1  See  Chapter  VII. 


How  Save  It  ?  249 

direct  work  among  Moslems  was  for  the 
most  part  begun  after  this  period.  In  the 
Turkish  Empire, — Constantinople,  Asia 
Minor,  Armenia,  Syria,  Palestine,  and 
Egypt, — much  Christian  work  was  under 
taken  in  this  period,  chiefly  by  American 
Presbyterian  Societies,  though  direct  and 
open  mission  work  for  Moslems  was  not  yet 
possible — is  even  now  not  yet  possible  in 
some  places.  In  West  Africa  the  C.M.S. 
missions  were  already  in  Sierra  Leone 
and  the  Niger  coming  into  touch  with  the 
outposts  of  Islam, — then,  alas  !  much  more 
insignificant  and  with  the  main  post  much 
further  away  than  is  the  case  now.  Lastly,  • 
in  East  Africa  the  pioneer  work  of  Krapf, 
with  his  scheme  of  a  chain  of  mission- 
stations  from  east  to  west,  and  the  firm 
planting  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  the 
C.M.S. ,  and  the  Scottish  missions  further 
south  were  an  earnest  that  Islam  in  East, 
and  East  Central  Africa,  would  not  be 
unopposed. 

The  tender  shoot  of  the  thirteenth  century  Bishop  French, 
has  become  a  great  tree  in  the  nineteenth ; — 
it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  follow  all  the 
ramifications   in   detail.     One   other  great 
name,  however,  Valpy  French,  in  a  special 


250      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

way,  may  be  said  to  have  been  in  the 
succession  we  have  been  tracing,  for  he 
himself  wrote,  "  It  was  no  small  privilege 
I  had  in  being  the  disciple  of  Pfander,  a 
worthy  successor  of  the  heroic  Henry 
Martyn." 

There  is,  somehow,  a  strong  family 
likeness  between  these  early  giants  of 
Moslem  missions.  Like  those  we  have 
already  studied,  French  was  a  man  of  the 
very  first  intellectual  rank  ;  like  them,  a 
wonderful  linguist ;  like  them  and  like  St 
Paul  he  was  ever  ready  to  strike  his  moving 
tent  and  depart  to  the  Regions  Beyond, 
following  the  call  of  God  ;  like  them  he 
was  wonderful  in  controversy :  finally, 
[ike  l  them  he  laid  down  his  life,  alone,  in  the 
spot  where  he  had  last  pitched  his  moving 
tent,  a  pioneer  to  the  last,  "  ambitious  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  the  regions  beyond." 

See  then  this  indomitable  man,  the 
brilliant  son  of  his  University,  coming 
out  to  Agra  to  devote  himself  to  higher 
education ;  eating  up  oriental  languages 
as  though  they  were  bread ;  learning 
Pfander's  secret  and  winning  Moslem 

1  All  except  Pfander  who  died  after  being  invalided 
home. 


How  Save  It?  251 

moulvies  to  Christ ;  passing  with  absolute 
sangfroid  through  the  terrible  time  of  the 
Mutiny,  —  after  which  he  is  invalided 
home.  .  .  .  Onward  again — this  time  to 
establish  a  new  and  most  important  mission 
in  the  "  Dirayet "  or  Frontier  District 
in  the  Punjab,  where  in  spite  of  ill-health 
he  gives  the  mission  a  most  vigorous 
start  by  the  old  but  ever  new  method 
of  hand-to-hand  dealing  with  the  moulvies 
of  Islam  ;  till  he  is  found  insensible  in  the 
jungle,  and  again  invalided  home.  .  .  . 
Onward  still,  this  time  to  Lahore,  to  initiate 
the  grand  scheme  of  his  life,  a  theological 
training-college  where  theological  subjects, 
including  Greek  and  Hebrew,  should  be 
taught  in  the  vernacular,  and  thus  be  clothed 
in  Indian  dress  and  Indian  idiom.  .  .  . 
Onward  again,  now  to  serve  as  missionary 
Bishop  of  Lahore,  the  centre  of  the  most 
important  Mohammedan  diocese  in  India ; 
during  which  time,  when  on  his  way  home 
for  furlough,  he  must  needs  pass  through 
Persia,  and  use  his  knowledge  of  Persian  to 
help  mightily  the  vigorous  new  mission  just 
established  there.  "  One's  heart  yearns 
over  these  dear  people,"  he  writes,  and  that 
heart  burns  when  he  finds  himself  at 


252      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Shiraz,  the  city  where  his  great  predecessor, 
Henry  Martyn,  had  suffered  so  painfully 
from   the   blasphemies   and   gainsaying   of 
the  mullahs.   .   .   .   Then,  when  he  there 
after  resigns  his   Bishopric,   whither  shall 
he    go  ?     Home  ?     But    his    heart   is    not 
to  go  home,  but — onward  still,  to  make  a 
missionary  journey  in  other  Mohammedan 
lands,  preaching  to  both  Turkish  and  Arab 
Moslems,    and    ministering    to    Christians 
of  every  denomination,  in  Turkish  Arabia 
(Busra,    Baghdad,   Mosul),   and   so   on    to 
Syria    (Aleppo,    Beyrout)    and    Palestine. 
Thus  he  reaches  home.     But  his  heart  is 
in  the  East, — the  East  is  calling  him  and  he 
must  go.     Onward  for  the  last  time,  to  a 
great   Moslem  centre  which  he  has   twice 
before  just  seen,  Muscat,  the  eastern  port 
of    Arabia.      Thither    he    resolves    to    go, 
alone,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  strained  with 
incessant  labour,  frequent  illness,  worn  with 
much  travel   and   study.     On  the  way  he 
visits  Tunis,  the  scene  of  Lull's  first  mis 
sionary  journey — he   arrives  in  Muscat  in 
1 891 .    Immediately  the  old  warrior  and  hero 
plunges  into  the  fray,  and  is  soon  in  the  thick 
of    visits, — conversations    held    sometimes 
even  in  a  mosque — and  profound  Arabic 


How  Save  It?  253 

study,  for  his  gaze  is  still  "  on  and  ever  on," 
—he  is  actually  hoping  to  penetrate  into  the 
interior  of  Arabia,  the  cradle  of  Islam  ! 

"  I  long  for  the  prayers  of  your  little  band  of 
intercessors,  offering  this  simple  request,  that  as  the 
Arab  has  been  so  grievously  successful  an  instru 
ment  in  deposing  Christ  from  His  Throne  (for  this 
long  season  only)  in  so  many  fair  and  beautiful 
regions  of  the  East,  ...  so  the  Arab  may  in  God's 
good  providence  be  at  least  one  of  the  main  auxil 
iaries  and  reinforcements  in  restoring  the  Great 
King." 

The  vision  of  the  old  warrior  "  un 
supported  so  far  as  human  help  goes, 
attacking  the  seemingly  impregnable 
fortress  of  Islam "  deeply  moved  and 
stirred  the  home  Church.  But  before  even 
the  fact  of  his  illness  was  known,  the  news 
came  of  his  death,  after  only  three  months 
in  Arabia ! 

Lull  martyred  as  he  knocks  at  the  gate 
of  North  Africa ;  Xavier  dying  as  he  cries 
on  China  to  open  her  iron  doors  ;  Henry 
Martyn  dying  in  solitude  at  Tokat ;  Valpy 
French  dying  in  his  lonely  house  at 
Muscat, — which  is  the  greater  hero  ? 

"  When  the  dumb  hours  clothed  in  black 

Bring  the  dreams  about  my  bed, 
Call  me  not  so  often  back, 
Silent  voices  of  the  dead  ; 


254      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

To  the  lowfields  behind  me 

And  the  sunlight  that  is  gone  ! 

Call  me  rather,  silent  voices. 
Forward  to  the  starry  track, 

Glimmering  up  the  heights  behind  me, 
On  and  ever  on  !  " 

Who  follows  in  their  train  ? 

The  Missionary  The  Missionary  College  idea  was  French's 
most  original  contribution  to  the  great 
methods  of  Mohammedan  missions,  the 
history  of  the  initiating  of  which  has  been 
gradually  unfolding.  It  is  true  that  the 
College  at  Lahore  was  not  exclusively  for 
Moslems,  but  the  Mohammedan  convert 
was  a  very  essential  element  in  the  scheme 
of  the  College. 

The  grand  idea  thus  shadowed  forth 
cannot  even  yet  be  said  to  have  been  fully 
worked  out. 

Ian  Keith  French's  death  in  Arabia  at  once  suggests 

the  name  of  one  worthy  to  stand  in  the 
succession  we  have  been  tracing — Ian  Keith 
Falconer.  Brilliant  in  scholarship,  after 
his  student  days  he  continued  his  studies 
in  oriental  languages,  and  later  became 
Professor  of  Arabic  and  Oriental  languages 
at  Cambridge.  At  the  time  of  his  fairest 
prospects  he  heard  and  answered  the  call 
to  work  abroad,  and  he  sailed  for  Aden 


How  Save  It  ?  255 

as  a  missionary  to  the  Arabs.  He  rapidly 
surveyed  the  field,  and  sketched  out  a  com 
prehensive  and  statesmanlike  plan  of  work, 
making  Sheikh  Othman  the  basis  of  opera 
tions.  For  a  busy  six  months  he  was  again 
in  the  home  country ;  his  services  were  ac 
cepted  by  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and 
in  December  1886  he  returned  to  Arabia. 
Five  months  later  came  the  news  that  Keith 
Falconer  had  died  of  fever.  He  was  laid 
to  rest  in  the  Aden  cemetery,  but  his  life 
remains,  and  will  long  remain,  a  power 
among  us.  His  purpose—  :i  to  call  attention 
to  Arabia  "  —was  more  than  fulfilled  ;  his 
surrender  of  worldly  ambitions,  and  the 
dedication  of  his  great  talents  are  an  in 
spiration  and  a  call  to  service.  Who 
follows  in  his  train  ? 

We  now  summarise  the  spread  of  Moslem  Spread  of 
missions  in  late  years.     Arabia  has  been  missions  of 
occupied,    and   nobly   occupied,    by   Scot- late  years< 
tish  Presbyterian,  American  Presbyterian, 
Church   Missionary,  and   Danish   missions. 
Looking  northward  to  Persia  and  beyond, 
we  find   with   joy   and   gratitude   to    God 
Persia    occupied     (C.M.S.    to     the    south, 
American     Presbyterian     to     the     north). 
In  Turkestan  a  courageous  Swedish  mission 


256      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

influencing  the  important  centres  of  Bok 
hara,  Kashgar,  Yarkand,  and  Khotan  near 
the  borders  of  Tibet.  What  of  the  still 
more  distant  interior,  Tartary  and  Siberia  ? 
It  is  not  easy  to  get  exact  information 
here.  Professor  Vambery  tells  us  that  the 
Russian  Government  has  long  adopted 
a  "  Christianising "  policy  in  some  of  its 
Moslem-Tartar  districts,  but  we  cannot 
put  much  faith  in  this  sort  of  evan 
gelism.  It  cannot,  however,  be  too  strongly 
realised  how  much  prayer  should  be  centred 
on  Russia  and  its  Greek  Church,  which  is 
responsible  under  God  for  the  whole  of 
Central  and  Northern  Asiatic  Islam. 

In  Egypt  an  extension  and  intensification 
of  work  has  taken  place  among  Moslems 
concurrently  with  the  era  of  freedom  after 
the  fall  of  Ismail.  Westwards,  what  of 
North  Africa?  In  1880  the  first  steps 
were  taken  to  found  that  courageous  and 
devoted  society  the  North  Africa  Mission. 
"  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  single 
(Protestant)  missionary  between  Alexandria 
and  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Morocco,  nor 
southwards  from  the  Mediterranean  almost 
to  the  Niger  and  the  Congo."  Now  there 
are  eighteen  stations  all  the  way  along  that 


KEITH-FALCONER    MEMORIAL     CHURCH,    ADEN 


RUINS  OF  "LITTLE  HUT"  IN  WHICH  KEITH-FALCONER  DIED 
SHEIKH  OTHMAN 


How  Save  It?  257 

long  historic  shore,  in  Egypt,  Tripoli,  Tunis, 
Algiers,  Morocco.1  And  even  the  Great 
Sudan  is  being  approached  from  east  and 
west ;  from  the  east  by  a  German  pioneer 
mission  with  its  centre  at  Assuan ;  from  the 
west,  from  the  Niger  especially,  with  its  far- 
flung  outpost  mission  in  Hausaland,  by  far 
the  greatest  and  most  important  centre  of 
western  Islam,  and  only  recently  opened  to 
the  Gospel.  All  along  the  Guinea  Coast 
from  Senegambia  to  the  Niger  the  African 
Church  is  steadying  itself  to  stay,  by  God's 
grace,  the  flood  of  Islam  from  the  north. 
Finally 2  in  East  Africa  the  tale  is  the  same. 
Our  story  is  told ;  we  have  travelled 
through  the  centuries  of  the  past,  we  have 
arrived  at  our  own  time.  It  remains  then 
to  examine  more  closely  the  forces,  the 
methods,  the  results  which  are  reported 
to-day  from  these  scenes  of  work,  and  in  a 
final  chapter,  gathering  the  threads  together, 
to  see  a  vision  of  the  future,  to  see  how 
the  Spirit  of  Jesus  may  be  given  to  clothe 
Himself  with  men  so  that  the  task  may  be 
finished,  and  the  reproach  of  Islam  rolled 
away. 

1  There  are  some  other  smaller  societies  in  Morocco. 

2  See  Chapter  1 1 1. 


258      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CHAPTER  VI 

1 .  What  gave  rise  to  the  Apology  of  Al  Kindi  ? 

2.  Who  was  Petrus  Venerabilis  ?     What  attitude 
did  he  take  towards  Islam  ? 

3.  What  do  you  consider  the  most  striking  features 
of  Lull's  life  j*     What  methods  did  he  advocate  or 
employ  for  the  saving  of  Islam  ? 

4.  What  was  Henry  Martyn's  chief  work  ?     De 
scribe  the  last  year  of  his  life. 

5.  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground 
and  die,  it  abideth  alone,  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth 
forth    much    fruit.        Exemplify    this    truth    from 
Chapter  VI. 

6.  What  was  Bishop  French's  special  contribution 
to  methods  of  missionary  work  ?     W^hat  are  the  points 
of  resemblance  between  him  and  Martyn  ? 

7.  What  arguments  from  facts  would  you  use  to 
justify  Ian  Keith  Falconer  in  laying  aside  a  brilliant 
career  ? 

8.  What  use  did  the  different  missionaries  make 
of  Christian  literature  in  the  struggle  with   Islam  ? 
Enumerate  their  literary  works. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Raymund  Lull,  First  Missionary  to 

the  Moslems. 

SMITH,  GEORGE — Henry  Martyn,  Saint  and  Scholar. 
SARGENT — Life  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Martyn. 
SINKER,    R.  —  Memorials    of   the    Hon.    Ian    Keith 

Falconer. 


How  Save  It?  259 

BIRKS,   H.  —  Life    and    Correspondence    of   Bishop 

Thomas  Valpy  French. 
ZWEMER,  S.  M. — Islam,,  chap.  ix. 

Arabia,  chaps,  xxx.  to  xxxii. 
STEPHEN — Essays  in   Ecclesiastical  History.     Essay 

on  early  Jesuits. 
Mum  — Apology  of  Al  Kindi. 


Common 
objections  to 
Mohammedan 
missions. 


CHAPTER  VII 

HOW    SAVE    IT  ? 

(2)  The  Evangelisation  of  Islam — To-day 

LOOKING  back  at  the  rapid  sketch  in  our 
last  chapter,  one  feels  perhaps  that  it  inevit 
ably  suggested  a  too  favourable  idea  of  the 
adequacy  of  missionary  effort  to  the  world 
of  Islam,  and  of  the  recognition  by  the 
Church  of  Christ  of  the  particular  character 
and  the  supreme  necessity  of  the  task  of 
evangelising  that  world. 

In  truth  the  goal  is  sensibly  nearer  than 
one  hundred  years  ago,  when  Henry  Martyn, 
"  chaplain  "  of  the  East  India  Company, 
was  putting  the  last  finishing  touches 
on  the  translation  of  the  New  Testa 
ment  into  Hindustani.  And  yet,  in  equal 
truth,  the  Church  of  Christ  is  hardly  yet 
awake.  It  is  only  just  beginning  to  be 
easy  to  stir  up  "  interest "  in  Moslem 
missions.  "  Uganda  is  so  much  more 
romantic"  "  Japan  and  China  are  so  much 
more  promising"  "  Do  not  Mohammedans 


200 


How  Save  It?  261 

worship  One  God  ?  "  "  Is  it  really  possible 
to  convert  Mohammedans  ?  "  "  I  thought 
Islam  was  quite  a  half -way -house  to  Chris 
tianity  !  "  "  Very  good  religion  for  these 
people  !  "  "  Mussulmen,  very  fanatical 
set :  why  don't  you  go  to  the  heathen 
tribes  ?  "  .  .  .  These  voices,  which  come 
to  the  mind's  ear  with  so  familiar  a  ring, 
and  so  touching  a  tone  of  discovery  and 
conviction,  illustrate  what  is  still  very 
largely  the  attitude  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
nay,  of  many  who  support  foreign  missions, 
to  the  problem  which  Raymund  Lull  thought 
was  the  grand  problem  of  the  Church. 
"  One  might  suppose,"  says  Dr  Zwemer, 
who  has  done  so  much  to  challenge  this 
attitude,  "  that  the  Church  thought  her 
great  commission  to  evangelise  the  world 
did  not  apply  to  Moslems." 

And  even  those  who  are  working  among 
Moslems  have  not  as  a  rule  fully  realised 
their  need  of  special  training,  special 
knowledge,  co-operation,  and  specialisa 
tion.  Not  until  April,  1906,  was  the  first 
general  Mohammedan  Missionary  Confer 
ence  held  at  Cairo.  In  October  of  the  same 
year  it  was  said  at  a  meeting  of  the  American 
Board,  a  society  which  for  decades  has  had 


Plan  of 
Chapter  VII. 


North  Africa. 


262      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

scores  of  missionaries  in  Moslem  lands  in 
the  East,  "  This  is  the  first  time  that  the 
question  of  missionary  work  for  Moslems 
has  been  openly  discussed  upon  the  platform 
of  the  American  Board." 

We  may  then  let  the  facts  of  last  chapter 
and  of  the  present  one  have  on  us  their  full 
effects  of  encouragement  and  stimulus, 
inasmuch  as  they  do  indeed  shatter  every 
one  of  the  vague  objections  urged  by  the 
voices  we  heard  a  moment  ago,  and  warrant 
the  belief  that  God  is  calling  His  Church 
in  this  matter  to  a  step  which  may  lead  to 
unparalleled  opportunities  and  successes  in 
the  near  future. 

The  plan  of  this  chapter  is  to  review  in 
somewhat  more  detail  the  work  that  is 
being  done  in  some  of  the  fields  the  occupa 
tion  of  which  we  have  witnessed  : — the 
methods  that  are  being  used,  the  problems 
that  are  being  encountered,  the  successes 
that  are  being  recorded.  And  this  will 
bring  us  naturally  to  a  realisation  of  what 
still  remains  to  be  done. 

The  wing  of  the  House  of  Islam  that 
usually  first  greets  the  European  traveller 
going  abroad  is  North  Africa,  and  nowhere 
is  Islam  more  proud,  in  spite  of  European 


How  Save  It?  263 

occupations,  or  more  difficult  to  influence. 
There  is  more  than  one  mission  at  work 
from  Tripoli  to  Morocco,  but  the  chief  one 
is  the  North  Africa  Mission,  which  works 
also  among  the  Jews,  and  other  settlers  in 
certain  of  these  districts.  Faithful  and 
simple  evangelistic  work,  by  preaching, 
visiting,  and  tract  distribution,  ministries 
of  healing,  ministries  of  education  are  the 
chief  characteristics  of  the  work  in  this 
vast  region.  And  there  has  been  success — 
at  "  almost  all  the  stations  there  have  been 
some  converts,  many  of  whom  have  been 
baptised."  The  following  name  of  places 
meet  our  eyes  in  this  connection : — Fez 
and  Tangier  in  Morocco ;  Algiers,  Tunis, 
Bizerta,  Tripoli. 

The  following  words  by  a  missionary  in  Type  of  worker 
Tripoli  (Mr  W.  Reid)  may  be  taken  as  typical needed 
in  regard  to  work  among  a  people  where 
utter    religious    intolerance    (not    merely 
politico -religious  intolerance  as  in  Turkey) 
reigns  absolutely  supreme  : — 

11  The  work  of  the  Christian  amongst  this  people 
is  very  difficult  indeed.  And  after  fifteen  years  of 
work  amongst  them,  it  seems  true  that  the  only  way 
to  win  them  is  by  personal  influence — the  influence 
of  men  and  women  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost — 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  personal  life 


264      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

and  character  of  the  missionary.  And  in  order  to 
exercise  this  power  he  needs  to  get  into  close 
contact  with  the  people.  But  here  lies  the  difficulty  of 
the  situation.  The  problem  of  work  amongst  Moslems 
in  North  Africa  is  how  to  get  really  close  to  them. 

"  The  great  obstacle  is  what  is  commonly  called 
'  fanaticism/  that  high  wall  of  suspicion,  proud 
exclusiveness,  arid  hate  that  Islam  has  built  up 
round  its  followers,  to  keep  them  in,  and  to  keep 
the  missionary  out — a  wall  that,  alas  !  too  often 
proves  unscalable  and  impregnable.  Men  have 
laboured  for  years  in  the  same  city  and  yet  could 
not  count  a  couple  of  friends. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  love  a  Moslem  because  he  is  not 
very  lovable,  and  because  he  usually  resents  a  too 
near  approach  to  him,  until  in  some  way  his  con 
fidence  has  been  won. 

"  When  acts  of  kindness  and  love  are  done  to  him 
he  is  sure  to  suspect  that  I  am  doing  it,  not  for  his 
sake  and  because  of  simple  disinterested  love,  but 
for  some  reason  of  self-interest  known  perhaps  only 
to  myself.  He  does  not  know  such  love,  and  can- 
iiot  believe  his  eyes  when  he  sees  what  looks  like  it 
in  another.  He  thinks  I  have  come  to  heap  up 
merit  to  balance  an  old  account  of  evil  doing.  I 
am  well  paid  for  it.  At  best  I  am  doing  it  in  order 
to  win  him  from  Mohammed  to  Jesus  Christ,  and 
even  this  is  perceived  to  be  an  interested  motive. 
I  do  not  love  him  for  himself,  or  as  a  fellow  human, 
just  as  he  is  in  his  need  of  help.  No,  I  want  to  win 
him  to  Jesus,  and  if  it  were  not  for  that  ulterior 
purpose  I  should  not  put  myself  out  of  the  way  to 
help  him. 

"...   Continuance    in    loving,    patient,    helpful 


MISSION    CHURCH    AND    SCHOOLS,    N.    AFRICA 


MOSLEM    SCHOLARS,    N.    AFRICA 


How  Save  It?  265 

sympathy  will  find  a  way — for  there  always  is  a  way 
— through  the  high  wall  of  fanaticism  to  the  heart 
of  even  a  Moslem.  Once  show  him  that  I  love  him 
for  his  own  sake,  and  that  I  am  glad  to  help  him 
apart  entirely  from  whether  he  believes  my  message 
or  not,  and  the  chord  of  love  that  is  still  to  be  found 
in  the  heart  of  the  lowest  will  respond.  .  .  . 

"  How  is  this  to  be  done  ?  Thank  God  it  is  being 
done  here  and  there  by  medical  missions  and 
schools  and  by  the  work  of  trained  nurses.  But 
only  the  fringe  of  the  population  is  touched.  .  .  . 

"  In  the  past  there  has  been  too  much  preaching 
and  too  little  practice  of  positive  Christianity.  .  .  . 

"A  fact  I  have  found  most  encouraging  is  that 
most  Moslems  know  goodness  when  they  see  it. 
They  know  and  acknowledge  that  there  is  little 
goodness  amongst  themselves,  and  when  they  see 
it  in  the  life  of  the  missionary  they  recognise  it 
and  acknowledge  it  fully  and  frankly.  If  this  life 
is  accompanied  by  patient  loving  labour  on  their 
behalf,  their  praise  is  usually  expressed  in  terms 
that  are  absolutely  contrary  to  all  they  have  been 
taught  as  to  the  future  condition  of  those  who 
do  not  believe  in  Mohammed." 

These  are  wise  words,  and  if  they  have 
been  cited  at  some  length  it  is  because  the 
principle  they  so  well  express  holds  good 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
Moslem  world.  Not  without  reason  then 
does  the  citation  occur  at  the  outset  of  our 
survey :  it  should  be  remembered  and 


266      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

applied  throughout  it  till  the  end,  for  it 
reminds  us  that  before  all,  through  all,  and 
after  all  the  Life,  and  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  is 
the  sole  asset  of  the  Church. 

Egypt.  We  turn  now  to  Egypt  to  catch  a  glimpse 

of  what  is  actually  being  done  there  among 
Moslems,  remembering  that  the  University 
Mosque  of  El  Azhar  is  the  centre,  literally 
from  a  geographical,  and  actually  from  a 
spiritual,  point  of  view  of  the  world  of 
Islam. 

In  Egypt  there  is  perfect  freedom  for 
preaching  among  Moslems,  and  all  the 
methods  usually  employed  are  in  full  use 
there.  The  American  Mission,  although  its 
work  has  been  chiefly  among  the  Copts, 
reports  one  hundred  and  forty  baptisms 
of  adult  Moslems  during  its  history.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society,  in  quite  recent 
years,  has  baptised  some  thirty  converts. 
And  there  are  others,  e.g.  the  Egypt 
General  Mission.  A  novel  and  encourag 
ing  thing  is  the  report  of  three  baptisms 
as  a  natural  fruit  of  the  work  of  St  Mark's 
Church,  Alexandria,  the  Church  of  the 
British  community.  Converts  from  Islam 
are  boldly  and  ably  preaching  the  religion 
they  once  hated. 


How  Save  It?  267 

The  increased  prestige  of  Christianity 
has  caused  it  to  be  at  least  studied,  and  given 
the  tribute  of  a  reasoned  opposition.  This 
increased  prestige  has  been  due  to  the  im 
provement  in  the  condition  of  the  Christian 
Church,  whether  by  the  establishment  of 
the  reformed  Presbyterian  community 
through  the  work  of  the  American  Mission, 
or  the  beginnings  of  a  "  counter-reforma 
tion  "  within  the  ancient  Coptic  Church 
itself,  and  it  has  been  due  also  to  the  very 
fact  that  Christians  are  beginning  to  do  their 
duty  in  preaching  to  Moslems.  Whether  by 
the  tens  of  thousands  of  Bibles  and  religious 
works  distributed  yearly  from  Assuan  to 
Alexandria,  or  by  itinerant  or  village 
missions,  or  preachings,  visitings,  disputa 
tions  in  the  capital,  or  medical  missions  in 
several  centres,  or  the  steady  work  of  the 
education  of  boys  and  girls,  the  work  goes 
on,  and  success  is  sure. 

Three  aspects  of  work  in  Egypt  serve  in 
each  case,  to  direct  our  gaze  far  beyond 
Egypt  itself. 

(1)  The  Azhar  University-Mosque  is   a  (*)  Azhar 
wonderful  institution.     Far  the  oldest  of 
all  mediaeval  universities,  it  is  the  only  one 
which  has  remained,  and  remains,  mediaeval 


268      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

in  its  curriculum,  its  methods,  its  whole 
aspect.  A  great  court,  glowing  with  sun 
light,  with  a  shady  many-pillared  portico 
on  the  far  side  ...  in  the  court  groups 
of  students  in  turbans  and  robes  squat  singly 
or  in  little  groups,  studying  and  (which  to 
them  is  the  same)  memorising ;  or  chatting, 
and  perchance  making  their  morning  meal. 
.  .  .  In  the  portico  they  sit  in  circles, 
great  or  small,  "  at  the  feet  of  "  their  Sheikhs 
—the  Rabbis  of  Islam — who  themselves 
squat  on  low  dais-seats  and  discuss  the 
grammar,  language,  interpretation,  and 
legal  teaching  of  the  Koran.  (Thus  sat 
a  young  student  from  Tarsus  named  Saul, 
in  the  Azhar  of  his  day,  at  the  feet  of  Sheikh 
Gamaliel  —  in  the  same  posture,  hearing 
discourses  according  to  the  same  method 
upon  just  such  subjects.)  .  .  .  There  you 
see  black  Sudanese  from  Hausaland  or 
the  Gambia  River,  from  Timbuktu  and 
the  Upper  Niger;  browny-yellow-skinned 
Maghrabis  from  Morocco  and  the  West ; 
fair,  pink-and- white  Turks  from  Stamboul ; 
almond-eyed  Mongoloids  from  far  Russian 
Siberia  and  Turkestan,  and  many  more. 
They  return  your  laugh  and  jest  as  you 
speak  to  them  in  Arabic :  they  enquire 


How  Save  It  ?  269 

where  you  live  :  they  say  they  will  have  the 
honour  of  visiting  your  Presence,  if  God 
will.  .  .  .  They  are  not,  however,  so  com 
plaisant  when  they  come  in  numbers  thirst 
ing  for  the  wordy  fray,  and  the  religious 
passions  rise,  and  eyes  burn  fiercely,  and 
the  hot  Arabic  streams  forth  in  the  eternal 
disputation.  ...  In  the  memory  of  living 
men  no  Christians  could  so  much  as  enter 
that  place  ;  now  they  enter  unmolested. 
Students  and  ex-students  have  been  con 
verted  to  Christ,  and  not  a  few  students 
have,  as  they  paced  or  sat  apart,  studied 
there,  not  the  Koran,  but  the  Injil  Yasu' 
al  Masih  (Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ).  .  .  . 
And  even  from  those  turbulent  meetings 
for  disputation,  so  often  breaking  up  in 
disorder,  fruit  has  been  gathered.  Hear 
the  story  of  one  ponvert  :— 

"  I  was  born  at  Jerusalem,  and  my  father  is  one  Story  of  Sheikh 
of  the  teachers  in  the  Haram— that  sacred  temple-  Mahmoud 
area  close  by  the  spot  where  Abraham  offered  up 
his  son  Isaac,  and  not  far  from  where  the  Saviour 
offered  Himself,  a  better  sacrifice  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world.     My  father  is  also  one  of  the  editors 
of  the  official  newspaper  of  the  Moslem  authorities 
at  Jerusalem.     At  the  age  of  seven  I   began  my 
studies    at    school.       But    they    consisted    in    the 
study   of  the    Koran    instead    of   the    Bible,    and 


270      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  laws  of  Mohammed  instead  of  the  laws  of 
Moses.  I  afterwards  went  for  a  period  to  a 
mission  school,  where  the  Bible  was  taught.  One 
day,,  when  still  a  boy,  I  found  accidentally  on  a 
shelf  in  our  house  a  Christian  book,  called  "  Sweet 
First-fruits."  L  Where  and  how  my  father  became 
possessed  of  this  book  I  cannot  say,  for  it  is  a  book 
forbidden  throughout  the  Turkish  Empire.  This 
book  I  read  and  re-read  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  by  it  I  became  acquainted  with  the  principles 
of  Christianity.  In  this  book  I  found  the  passages 
of  the  Koran  examined,  which  speak  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  and  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  saw  how 
our  commentators  had  perverted  their  meaning.  In 
the  Koran  it  is  said,  '  We  have  sent  down  upon  men 
the  books  of  the  New  and  Old  Testaments.'  It 
follows  that  these  Books  must  contain  true  words, 
and  were  meant  as  our  inspired  guide  ;  but  the 
commentators  say  that  the  Jews  have  so  altered  the 
text  that  it  cannot  be  trusted.  The  Koran  says  of 
Jesus  Christ  that  '  God  sent  Him  into  the  world  as 
His  Word  and  His  Spirit,'  and  the  plain  meaning  is 
that  Jesus  is  the  Word,  and  that  God,  the  Word, 
and  the  Spirit  are  One,  as  in  the  teaching  of  St 
John  ;  but  our  commentators  say  that  by  Word  and 
Spirit  only  expression  and  breath  are  meant,  and 
that  Jesus  was  created  as  well  as  born,  and  is  not 
the  only  begotten  Son  of  the  Father.  The  study 
of  this  book  caused  me  to  ask  my  father  many 
questions,  but  instead  of  answering  them  he  used 
to  beat  me,  to  prevent  me  from  talking  on  such 
subjects. 

1  Published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society  in  English. 


How  Save  It?  271 

"  After    ten    years'    study    in    the    Haram,    the 
Moslem  College  in  the  Temple-area  at  Jerusalem,, 
whither  I   went  after  leaving   school,    I   was   sent 
to    the    El    Azhar    University    at    Cairo,,    the   most 
important  school  of  Moslem  theology  in  the  world. 
Five  times  a  day  I  heard  the  call  to  prayer,  '  There 
is   no    God   but  the   One   God.     Come  to  prayer.' 
One  day  as  I  was  walking  in  the  direction  of  the 
great  bridge,   I   saw   a   notice   which   attracted  my 
attention  :  '  This  is  the  house  of  the  English  clergy 
for  the  discussion  of  religious  and  moral  questions.' 
So  I  said  to  myself,  '  This  is  just  what  I  want.'     So 
I    entered  the    reception  room,  and  began  to  talk 
with  the  catechist  about  the  missionaries.     Soon  Mi- 
Thornton  came  in.     After  the  usual  salutations  he 
began  to  talk  to  me,  and  asked  me  to  attend  the 
meeting  in  the  evening.     This  I  did.     The  subject 
that  evening  was  :    '  Which  was  the  true  sacrifice, 
that  of  Isaac  (as  in  the  Bible),  or  that  of  Ishmael 
(as  is  implied  in  the  Koran)  ?  '      1  got  up  and  told 
Mr  Thornton   that  he  did  not  know  what  he  was 
talking  about,   as    I   was   sure  it  was  Ishmael,  not 
Isaac,    who    was    offered    by    Abraham.     After  the 
close  of  the  meeting,  tracts  were  given  to  me,  but 
I  was  so  angry  that  I  tore  them  up,  as  being  the 
words  of  unbelievers.     One  evening  I  even  brought 
twenty  students  with  me  from  El  Azhar  on  purpose 
to  break  up  the  meeting.      I  remember  the  subject 
that  evening  was  '  The  Crucifixion  of  Christ.'     Now, 
the  Moslems   do  not  believe   that  Jesus  was   ever 
really    crucified,    so    I     stopped    the    speaker,    and 
called    out    to    all    true    believers    to    rise    up    and 
protest. 

"  Still,  one  thing  seemed  strange  to  me.     I  was 


272      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

treating  the  missionaries  with  hatred  and  insult,, 
but  the  missionaries  never  ceased  to  treat  me  with 
courtesy,  and  even  love.  So  I  saw  that  whereas 
Islam  teaches  us  to  return  hate  with  hate,  Chris 
tianity,  on  the  contrary,  teaches  men  to  love  their 
enemies,  and  to  treat  them  courteously. 

"  So  then  I  began  to  change  my  conduct.  I  came 
to  the  meetings  week  by  wreek,  but  no  longer  to 
oppose,  but  to  listen.  I  took  the  tracts  and  read 
them  diligently,  and  fixed  my  attention  upon  three 
principal  points — the  origin  of  Islam,  the  meaning 
of  the  mission  of  Mohammed,  and  the  nature  of  the 
inspiration  of  the  Koran.  As  I  read  the  Christian 
tracts,  and  especially  the  monthly  magazine,  called 
the  Orient  and  Occident,  published  by  the  missionaries 
in  Cairo,  the  beams  of  Christian  light  began  to  reach 
my  soul. 

"Then  Mr  Thornton,  as  if  he  understood  my 
malady  and  the  medicine  required  for  it,  put  the 
Bible  into  my  hands.  God  gave  me  a  right  under 
standing  of  the  Gospel.  I  saw  revealed  the  love  of 
God  towards  man,  our  need  of  reconciliation  with 
God.  the  need  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  to  redeem 
mankind,  and  the  truth  of  the  Christian  teaching  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  I  asked  Mr  Thornton  for 
regular  Bible  instruction. 

"  After  two  weeks'  instruction  I  was  entirely 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  But  I  had 
now  been  four  years  at  El  Azhar,  and  my  father 
wished  me  to  go  to  Constantinople  in  order  to  study 
law  with  a  view  to  ultimately  becoming  a  Moslem 
judge.  I  did  not  wish  to  go,  because  I  knew  I 
should  not  be  able  to  show  that  I  was  a  Christian  ; 
yet  if  I  did  not  go,  all  my  worldly  prospects  for  the 


How  Save  It  ?  273 

future  would  be  ruined,  and  my  father  would  be 
made  angry,  and  I  should  have  to  live  as  an  exile  in 
foreign  lands.  After  a  long  struggle  within  me,  as 
I  pondered  these  things  upon  my  bed,  I  fell  asleep, 
and  while  asleep  a  voice  came  to  me  saying  :  l  Rise 
up.  Light  is  on  thy  path.  Be  not  afraid,  for  I  am 
with  thee.'  This  happened  three  times. 

"  In  the  morning  I  went  at  once  to  Mr  Thornton 
to  tell  him  what  had  happened.  When  he  was 
convinced  that  all  I  said  was  true,  he  received  me 
into  the  mission  compound,  and  the  doctors  gave  me 
a  room  under  their  house.  The  same  afternoon  I 
wrote  to  my  father  to  tell  him  where  I  was,  and  on 
7th  October,  1905,  I  applied  to  the  proper  quarters 
to  have  my  name  legally  inscribed  as  a  Christian. 
The  following  day  Mr  Thornton  publicly  received 
me  as  a  catechumen  in  the  Old  Cairo  Church,  and 
after  a  few  months  of  instruction  and  trial  he 
baptised  me  by  the  name  of  Biilus  (Paul)  instead 
of  my  former  name  of  Mahmiid.  But  before  I  was 
baptised  my  father  wrote  frequently  from  Jerusalem 
to  dissuade  me  from  being  a  Christian,  and  ultimately 
came  himself  to  Cairo  to  bring  me  back.  He  had 
several  interviews  with  me  in  Mr  Thornton's  house, 
and  offered  me  half  his  fortune  if  I  would  renounce 
Christianity  and  return  home  with  him.  When  his 
entreaties  were  in  vain,  my  father  appealed  to  Lord 
Cromer.  I  had  to  appear  before  his  Lordship,  who 
told  me  that  my  father  was  very  angry  with  me, 
but  that  I  was  old  enough  to  profess  what  religion 
I  preferred,  as  Egypt  was  now  a  free  country.  I 
told  Lord  Cromer  that  I  did  not  wish  to  go  to  Syria 
until  it  was  a  free  country,  and  thereupon  he  made 
me  sign  a  document  to  that  effect  in  his  presence, 


274      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

and  that  of  other  witnesses  to  my  signature.  The 
Prime  Minister  of  Egypt  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  were  present  during  the  interview,,  and 
witnessed  my  confession.  I  thank  God  for  giving 
me  strength  to  remain  firm.  He  has  given  me 
another  father  in  Mr  Thornton  in  place  of  my  own 
father  whom  I  have  lost,  and  he  has  promised  me 
treasure  in  Heaven  in  place  of  the  earthly  posses 
sions  which  would  have  been  mine  ;  and  now  I  feel 
and  know  that  God  is  near  me,  in  a  way  I  never 
knew  before.  Pray  for  me.  Peace  be  with  you."  1 

The  possibilities  of  work  among  Azhar 
students  have  been  only  barely  tried. 
They  still  await  the  staff  of  men,  sufficient 
in  ability  and  numbers,  willing  to  give 
time  to  develop  those  possibilities  to  their 
utmost. 

(2)  Literature.         (2)  The  work  in  Egypt  is  characterised 
by    another   international   method    which, 
though  it  is  even  more  notably  employed 
in  India,  it  is  convenient  to  mention  here— 
that  of  literature. 

D.  M.  Thornton 1  emphasises  the  extra 
ordinary  importance  of  the  classical  Arabic 
tongue,  the  vernacular  of  all  Moslems  who 
are  in  the  least  educated,  from  Morocco  to 
Baghdad.  It  can  be  read  by  many  educated 

1  Quoted  from  "  D.  M.  Thornton,  a  Study  in  Mission 
ary  Ideals  and  Methods/' 


How  Save  It  ?  275 

Moslems  in  all  Moslem  countries.  He 
says  : — 

"  When  areas  are  considered,  I  do  not  fear  to  be 
contradicted  when  I  assert  that  next  to  the  English 
language.  Arabic  is  read  and  reverenced  over  the  widest 
area  of  the  earths  surface. 

"The  actual  number  of  those  who  at  present 
speak  Arabic  as  their  native  language  is  about 
Jiffy  million*  of  souls,  ...  so  long  as  Islam 
exists  and  spreads  alongside  of  education,  so 
long  will  the  Arabic  tongue  increase  in  influence 
and  remain  one  of  the  dominant  languages  of  the 
world." 

And  so  Arabic  literature,  composed,  printed, 
and  published  in  Cairo  is  making  its  way 
not  only  throughout  Egypt,  but  to  many 
parts  of  the  Moslem  world.  Parcels  of 
books  have  gone  to  Hausaland,  Zanzibar, 
Palestine,  Arabia,  and  Irak.  Here  then  is 
an  additional  call  to  the  band  of  scholars, 
men  of  the  type  of  Lull,  men  at  once  of 
intellectual  ability  and  spiritual  fire,  who 
will  join  to  their  preaching  and  disputing 
among  Azhar  students  the  development 
of  a  Christian  literature  specially  adapted 
for  Moslems.  The  "  Nile  Mission  Press  "  is 
already  in  being — the  indispensable  auxiliary 
to  the  literary  undertaking.  In  Syria,  the 
great  Beyrout  press  is  by  far  the  greatest 


276      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

in  the  Arabic-speaking  East.  If  an  era  of 
absolute  press  liberty  has  really  dawned, 
it  may  be  expected  to  add  to  its  incalculably 
important  indirect  work  a  direct  work 
comparable  to  that  of  the  Madras  press, 
where  numbers  of  publications,  specially 
for  Moslems,  are  poured  forth  in  Urdu, 
English,  and  other  languages  spoken  by 
Indian  Mohammedans. 
Problems  of  (3)  And  again,  ere  we  leave  Cairo,  we 

old  National         r»      i  ii  ••  i  •   i 

Churches,  e.g.  nnd  yet  another  question  which  is  not 
the  Copts.  special  to  Egypt  but  is  common  to  the  whole 
of  the  Near  East :  the  problem  of  the  old 
national  Christian  Churches,  islands  in 
the  sea  of  Islam — alas,  islands  mutually 
hostile  to  each  other.  In  all  parts  of  the 
old-Moslem  East — in  Constantinople,  Asia 
Minor,  Armenia,  Syria,  Palestine,  Turkish 
Arabia,  Persia,  and  Egypt — while  the  door 
to  direct  Moslem  work  was  yet  closed, 
Christian  effort  was  put  forth  to  help  and 
inspire  and  reform  these  communities, 
chiefly  by  American  Presbyterian  missions, 
but  by  others  also,  e.g.  the  Archbishop's 
Mission  to  Assyrian  Christians.  A  twofold 
result  has  been  achieved  :  on  the  one  hand, 
enlightened  Christian  communities  have  been 
formed,  separate  from  these  old  Eastern 


How  Save  It?  277 

Churches ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  counter- 
movement  within  those  Churches  themselves 
is  beginning  to  manifest  itself,  especially  in 
Egypt.  In  either  case  the  effect  on  the 
evangelisation  of  Islam  is  immense  :  in 
directly  every  pure  and  living  Christian 
congregation  is  a  light  for  God  in  Christ ; 
and  direct  conversions  are  sure  to  come — 
witness  the  heroic  story  of  Kamil  Abd  el 
Masih,1  whose  history  shows  that  even  in  the 
bigoted  Turkish  Empire  the  Gospel  is  not 
bound.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
spiritual,  evangelical  movement,  which  has 
already  begun,  were  to  increase  in  the  bosom 
of  those  old  Churches  themselves,  it  would 
be  as  life  from  the  dead  ;  as  it  is,  the  con 
version  of  Moslems  and  their  baptism  into 
the  Coptic  Church  of  Egypt  is  by  no  means 
uncommon. 

Wonderful  openings  are  arising  of  work  Turkish 
for  Moslems  in  the  Turkish  Empire.     The  Empire> 
whole  scene  is   changing— the  prospect  is 
full  of  hope  and  of  appeal.    Doctor  Barton 2 
throws  much  light  on  methods  used  in  the 
past,  and  on  the  present  position.     A  great 
educational  work,  largely  affecting  Moslems, 

1  Jessup.     See  Bibliography. 

2  See   "The    East   and    the    A  Vest/'    July    1909,   and 
"  Daybreak  in  Turkey/' 


278      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

is  being  carried  on  by  Americans  and  others 
in  the  Turkish  Empire  and  in  Persia — 
special  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
great  Colleges  at  Constantinople  and  Bey- 
rout.  Space  alone  has  prevented  any  ade 
quate  account  of  school  educational  work 
among  Moslems  throughout  the  House  of 
Islam.  Mohammedans  are  also  reached 
by  medical  work  ;  there  are  hospitals  at 
Damascus,  Beyrout,  Brumana,  Nablus, 
Gaza,  Baghdad,  Mosul,  and  at  Bahrein 
and  Sheikh  Othman  in  Arabia. 

Arabia.  Arabia  !     Scottish  missionaries  from  the 

south-west,  and  American  missionaries  from 
the  east  are  working,  and  watching,  and 
waiting.  They  hold  the  tradition  of  Keith- 
Falconer  on  the  west,  and  of  French  on  the 
east.  Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam,  is  their 
objective,  and  the  heart  of  Arabia  and 
Islam — Mecca.  That  up  to  the  present  is 
locked,  bolted,  and  barred.  But  for  how 
long  ?  Quite  recently  an  order  was  received 
at  Bahrein  from  Mecca  for  a  reference  Bible. 
Pilgrims  bound  for  Mecca  are  being  reached 
with  Christian  literature.  The  Hejaz 
railway  will  shortly  reach  Mecca :  have 
a  railway  and  a  hermit  territory  ever  yet 
been  compatible  ?  .  .  .  The  growth  of 


How  Save  It?  279 

the  medical  work  at  Sheikh  Othman  is 
typical.  The  average  number  of  patients 
for  the  last  three  years  is  34,428.  Last 
year  more  than  800  operations  were  per 
formed  under  most  difficult  circumstances, 
with  no  trained  nursing  except  what  the 
two  doctors  themselves  could  give.  Early 
in  1909  the  new  hospital  was  opened,  yet 
no  trained  nurse  is  forthcoming.  People 
often  come  immense  distances  for  treat 
ment,  and  are  of  course  taught  something 
of  the  Gospel  before  they  are  medically 
treated. 

What  shall  be  said  of  the  huge  Sudan,  Sudan, 
including  the  vast  region  which  we  know 
as  the  Sahara  desert  ?  a  region  little  known, 
yet  scored  and  traversed  by  many  trade 
routes,  dotted  by  oases,  containing  great 
kingdoms  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
subjects.  Here  an  Islam  of  primitive  in 
tensity  holds  absolute  sway,  and  threatens 
all  West  Central  Africa  down  to  the  coast 
of  the  Gulf  of  Guinea!  The  whole  of 
that  enormous  district,  containing  it  is 
not  known  how  many  millions  of  souls — its 
doors  have  been  hardly  so  much  as  knocked 
at  by  the  Church  of  Christ !  ...  Yet  from 
the  south  a  beginning  has  been  made. 


280      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

It  has  been  the  occupation  of  the 
Guinea  Coast  States,  from  the  Gambia 
to  the  Niger,  by  Christian  missions  to  the 
heathen,  and  the  political  occupation  of 
these  districts  and  their  hinterlands  by 
European  powers,  that  have  brought  Chris 
tianity  and  Islam  in  these  districts  face  to 
face.  Further,  in  Northern  Nigeria  the 
outposts  of  the  Church  have  penetrated 
into  the  Mohammedan  Sudan  itself,  and 
are  at  work  in  Hausaland,  the  great  door 
to  the  whole  region.  Already  the  first- 
fruits  of  Christ  are  won,  and  where  some 
few  years  ago  the  missionaries  were  almost 
in  despair  at  the  blank  insensate  apathy  of 
the  people,  we  now  hear  of  converts  bap 
tised  in  a  Hausa  river  ;  a  class  of  candidates 
for  baptism  ;  and  a  spirit  of  enquiry.  The 
first  convert  has  a  remarkable  experience. 
Little  Abdu  is  a  Hausa  boy  whose  father 
was  making  the  pilgrimage — a  long,  difficult 
and  dangerous  feat,  indeed.  By  the  death 
of  that  father  the  boy  is  left  stranded  at 
Tripoli  in  North  Africa,  where  he  falls  in 
with  a  party  of  missionaries  who  are  study 
ing  Hausa  there,  preparatory  to  starting 
work  in  Hausaland  later  on.  He  tarries 
with  them,  and  there  for  the  first  time  he 


How  Save  It? 


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282      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

learns    of   the    existence    and  meaning   of 
Christian  love  and  character.     But  he  leaves 
them — Islam   must   unteach   him   Islam- 
he  makes  his  way  to  Mecca  and  performs 
the     pilgrimage.     .     .     .    The     disillusion 
ment    is    complete.     His    admiration    for 
Islam  is  gone — but  as  yet  there  is  nothing 
to   replace   it ;     he   remains   apparently   a 
convinced  Moslem,   with  a  Moslem's   con 
tempt  for  any  religion  that  is  not  that  of 
the  Prophet.     But  God's  hand  is  on  him 
still.     The  first  and  second  step  have  been 
taken,  and  the  third  is  when  the  hand  of 
God   guides   him  to   a  missionary's   house 
in  Alexandria  on  the  way  back  from  Mecca. 
He  is  thus  enabled  to  get  into  touch  with 
his  friend  of  Tripoli  days.     He  finds  his 
way  to  him  and  becomes  his  adopted  son. 
The  fourth  step  has  been  taken.     His  faith 
in  Islam  is  now  gone  ;   but  his  heart,  dull 
with  disappointment  and  not  yet  revived 
by  faith  in  Christ,  cannot  bring  itself  to 
yield   to   Him   who   alone    can   satisfy   it. 
But  his  friend  and   father   holds   on — not 
for  one  moment  does  he  let  go.     And  the 
light  at  last  comes,  the  soul  is  re-born,  Abdu 
is  Christ's — the  first  Hausa  for  Christ.     He 
is  now  working  with  his  friend  and  adopted 


How  Save  It?  283 

father,  Dr  Walter  Miller,  among  his  own 
people  in  Hausaland. 

The  Hausaland  missionaries'  gaze  is 
northward ;  northward  and  eastward,  to 
the  great  Sudan.  The  methods  used  are 
ministries  of  healing,  teaching,  and  preach 
ing,  and,  as  enlightenment  under  British 
rule  increases,  a  great  chance  is  opening  up 
through  education.  But  the  number  of 
workers  is  absurdly  inadequate. 

The  following  words,  by  the  most  ex 
perienced  missionary1  in  those  parts,  are 
very  interesting,  as  bringing  vividly  to  our 
notice  the  contest  of  Islam  for  the  tribes  : 

"  All  to  the  north  and  east  and  mostly  west  of  us 
is  won  to  Islam  :  the  south  is  occupied  by  pagans, 
wholly  hostile  to  Islam,,  and  hating  it  with  a  deadly 
hatred  :  further  south  again,  among  the  great  Nupe 
and  Yoruba  peoples,  it  is  making  rapid  strides.  .  .  . 
The  most  of  the  propaganda  is  done  by  traders  ;  it  is 
very  superficial  at  first,  but  in  a  second  and  third 
generation  it  will  become  an  intelligent  power 
according  to  the  capability  of  each  people,  probably 
nowhere  so  great  as  among  the  Hausas  themselves. 

"Of  course  the  principal  thing  needed  is  a  native 
agency.  The  Government  has  brought  Mohammedans 
from  India  as  clerks,  artificers,  blacksmiths  ;  we  ought 
to  bring  Christians  from  India  and  Egypt  to  these 
countries.  I  am  convinced  that  the  value  of  a  con- 

1  Dr  Walter  Miller. 


284      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

verted  Mohammedan  from  Egypt  in  this  country,  if 
he  could  live  humbly  and  simply,  would  be  revolu 
tionary.  Here  converted  heathens  to  Islam  win 
more  converts  than  others." 

So  arises  the  great  problem  of  building 
up  the  African  Christian  Churches. 

"  Missions  will  scarcely  be  able  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  Islam  among  a  single  tribe,  much  less 
into  large  districts.  Islam  is  spreading  with  the 
certainty  and  irresistibility  of  a  rising  tide.  The 
only  question  is  if  it  will  still  be  possible  for 
missions  to  organise  Christian  Churches  like  break 
waters,  able  to  resist  the  flood,  and  outweather  it, 
or  whether  everything  will  be  carried  away  head 
long."  l 

The  following,  by  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Mac- 
intyre2  of  Nigeria,  brings  the  noise  and 
dust  of  this  tremendous  conflict  more  nearly 
home  to  our  hearts  and  imaginations  than 
a  dozen  essays  written  by  theorists  at 
home  :— 

"  I  beg  to  lay  before  you  the  following  proposals 
with  regard  to  an  organised  effort  to  combat  the 
advance  of  Islam  in  West  Africa,  and  in  Nigeria 
especially. 

1  Pastor  Wiirz,  Secretary  of  the  Basel  Mission. 

2  In  the  Western  Equatorial  Diocesan  Magazine,  Nov. 
1908. 


How  Save  It?  285 

te .  .  .As  ignorance  is  the  greatest  stronghold  of 
Mohammedanism,  so  education  is  the  Church's 
greatest  weapon  in  meeting  it. 

"(l)  Beginning  with  literature,  efforts  should  be 
made  to  produce  vernacular  literature  dealing  with 
the  Mohammedan  controversy.  There  is  a  large 
amount  of  such  already  published  in  India  and  in 
Egypt.  Gradually  these  could  be  translated  into 
the  different  vernaculars,,  and  thus  the  weapons 
already  forged  in  warfare  with  Islam  elsewhere 
would  at  once  become  available  in  West  Africa. 

"  (2)  In  all  Mission  Schools  definite  instruction 
should  be  given  on  the  errors  of  Islam,  and  the 
pupils  forearmed.  As  Mohammedanism  claims  to 
be  a  larger  revelation,  and  to  supersede  Chris 
tianity,,  it  is  imperative  that  this  bold  challenge 
should  be  met,  and  not  passed  over  in  silence,  and 
that  every  mission  pupil  should  learn  not  only  the 
Christian  truths,  but  also  their  position  with  regard 
to  attacks  on  those  truths. 

"  (3)  Special  efforts  should  be  made  to  encourage 
the  systematic  study  of  this  question  by  all  workers, 
both  clergy  and  laymen,  as  too  often  they  are  not 
well  equipped  to  meet  the  current  objections  to 
Christianity  put  into  the  minds  of  their  hearers, 
which  objections  may  at  any  time  become  dominant. 

"  (4)  Evangelistic  effort  ought  to  be  more  used 
among  Mohammedans.  .  .  .  Special  meetings  ought 
to  be  held  for  Mohammedans,  and  every  means 
used  to  find  out  what  sort  of  address  or  what  form 
of  meeting  specially  appeals  to  them.  Preachers 
will  need  to  be  specially  trained  for  this  work. 

"(5)  Special  efforts  should  beraade  to  occupy  strong 
Mohammedan  centres t  as  it  is  from  these  centres  that 


286      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the   Mohammedan  influence  on  the  pagan  districts 
is  exercised.   .  .   . 

"  (6)  An  itinerant  order  of  (native)  preachers,  to  go 
about  in  something  the  same  way  as  Mohammedan 
malamfi  go  about  from  village  to  village,  would  be  a 
great  means  of  extending  the  Kingdom.  The  men 
would  need  to  be  specially  trained,  and  would  then 
be  given  as  free  a  hand  as  possible,  going  about  in  a 
certain  district,  and  staying  in  the  villages  for  a 
week  or  a  month,  and  endeavouring  to  get  some 
place  or  building  set  apart  for  Christian  worship. 
The  ordinary  visit  of  the  missionary  on  his  itinera 
tion  is  too  soon  forgotten,  while  the  itinerant 
missionary,  free  to  stay  in  the  place  for  a  month  if 
need  be,  would  be  able  to  reap  some  of  the  fruit, 
and  leave  a  permanent  instead  of  a  transient 
impression." 

The  problems  in  East  Africa  are  to  a 
large  extent  the  same  as  those  already 
mentioned.  The  barrier  Churches  in 
Uganda  and  around  Lake  Nyassa  are  break 
waters  in  the  flood  of  Islam — they  need 
strengthening  all  along  the  line.  Zanzibar 
is  the  greatest  centre  of  Islam  in  the  East. 
The  following  words  by  Canon  Dale  of  the 
Universities'  Mission  are  remarkably  like 
the  message  from  West  Africa  :— 

"  Islam  goes  with  every  Moslem.  Formerly  it  was 
there,  and  we  knew  nothing.  Now  we  know,  but 
we  are  there  too.  The  Mohammedans'  fulcrum  is  a 


How  Save  It?  287 

very  strong  anti-European  feeling  in  the  mind  of 
the  native,  and  therefore  Christian  Governments 
should  see  to  it  that  no  just  ground  is  given  for 
anti-Europeanism. 

"  We  are  beginning  to  train  our  native  teachers 
with  a  view  to  replying  to  the  very  ignorant 
Moslem  teachers  he  meets.  We  shall  want  better 
material  soon.  A  Mohammedan  teacher  in  the 
Zegna  country,  now  a  Christian  teacher,  told  me 
that  what  began  to  turn  him,  was  to  find  that  our 
Christian  boys  understood  their  sacred  book,  whilst 
he,  a  teacher,  whose  pupils  are  now  teachers,  did 
not  understand  his.  .  .  . 

"  But  we  can  aim  at  placing  a  well-educated  native 
teacher,  catechist,  or  minister,  wherever  there  is  a 
Mohammedan.  I  believe  in  adhering  like  grim 
death  to  Christian  principle  and  the  Christian  faith 
at  whatever  cost,  even  if  our  converts  leave  us 
because  of  hard  sayings,  and  run  away  in  time  of 
persecution.  The  Cross  triumphs,  and  the  Cross 
only.  So  I  would  appeal : — 

"(1)  For  persistent,  fervent  prayer  for  the  Mo 
hammedans  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  they 
may  see  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  (2)  An  attempt  to  be  made  to  plant  colleges  of 
trained  Christian  scholars  in  Mohammedanism  in  all 
great  centres. 

"  (3)  A  series  of  books,  the  work  of  trained  theo 
logians  and  experts  from  the  Mohammedan  field,  con 
taining  the  best  and  soundest  answers  to  all  the  usual 
Mohammedan  objections,  and  free  from  all  unsound 
and  defective  arguments.  These  could  be  trans 
lated  ad  lib. 

"  (4)  An  appeal  to  men  at  home,  the  very  best  our 


288      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Universities  have  to  give,  to  devote  themselves  to 
this  special  work,  and  offering  themselves  where  the 
battle  is  keenest,  and  the  call  most  urgent." 

It  needs  to  be  burnt  in  upon  the  Church 
at  home  that  East,  Central,  and  West 
Africa  are  the  greatest  battlegrounds  be 
tween  Islam  and  Christianity  in  this 
twentieth  century.  All  who  know  the 
facts  acknowledge  it.  In  1908  the  great 
assembly  of  Bishops  at  the  Lambeth 
Conference  in  their  Report  on  foreign  mis 
sions  declared  that  Islam  "  is  challenging 
the  Christian  Church  to  a  struggle  for  the 
possession  of  Equatorial  Africa."  In  1908, 
in  the  judgment  of  their  Committee,  "  the 
door  is  still  open  for  the  Christian  Church  ; 
but  if  she  fails  to  press  through  it,  in  a  few 
years  it  will  be  shut."  The  missionaries 
of  all  societies  working  in  those  districts 
impress  the  facts  upon  us,  and  at  present 
the  Church  seems  blind  and  deaf  to  this 
urgent  need.  The  call  for  men,  whether 
made  by  C.M.S.,  U.M.C.A.,1  Presbyterians, 
or  Free  Churches  is  not  responded  to  in 
any  adequate  way.  Stations  are  under 
manned,  opportunities  never  to  recur  are 
daily  being  lost,  workers  break  down 

1  Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Africa. 


MOSLEM    CONVERT    NOW     WORKING    AT    ADEN 


How  Save  It?  289 

through  over-pressure,  and  the  Church  at 
home  is  unmoved.  Islam  itself  has  no 
lack  of  workers,  but  Christ  at  present 
seems  to  call  in  vain.  Wherever  the  call 
is  answered,  there  is  blessing.  The  Africans 
themselves  will  do  the  work — hardly  one 
Englishman  in  a  thousand  can  learn  to 
see  things  as  Africans  see  them  — but 
Europeans  must  be  there  to  lead,  and  help, 
and  guide.  Hear  of  one  Hausa  convert  :— 

"  Last  summer  1  a  Hausa  convert,  only  one  year 
after  his  baptism,  was  travelling  for  business  pur 
poses  to  the  old  and  fanatical  city  of  Katsina,  140 
miles  from  our  C.M.S.  station  in  Zaria,  almost  the 
earliest  stronghold  of  Islam  in  this  land,  where  no 
white  missionary  has  been  allowed.  He  was  a 
young  malam  of  considerable  ability,  and  well 
known  for  his  learning  ;  his  conversion  and  baptism 
had  caused  some  consternation  in  orthodox  circles, 
where  it  had  been  freely  said  that  whatever  we 
might  succeed  in  doing  among  the  illiterate,  we 
should  never  convert  a  malam  !  Soon  after  his 
arrival  in  Katsina,  he  was  sent  for  privately  by  the 
Emir : — '  We  have  heard  of  you,  .  .  .  why  did 
you  leave  your  own  faith,  and  that  of  your  fathers, 
and  become  a  Christian  ? '  Seeking  for  God's 
guidance,  our  friend  quietly  gave  his  reasons.  .  .  . 
During  the  rest  of  his  stay  in  the  city,  for  several 
days,  not  one  day  passed  but  he  was  invited  to 
the  houses  of  the  leading  malams  and  chiefs  to 

1  Words  of  Dr  Miller. 


2QO      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

explain  the  Christian  Faith  and  read  the  Scriptures 
in  Arabic." 

But  how  much  remains  to  be  done  ! 

"Few  have  felt  the  burden  of  those  states  which 
lie  east  of  Northern  Nigeria,  but  on  a  few,  as  they 
look  at  the  map  and  see  stretching  away  from  wrest 
to  east  a  continuation  of  huge  Moslem  states,  Bornu, 
Ba-ghirmi,  Wadai,  Darfur,  Kordofan,  the  burden  of 
the  untouched,  unevangelized  lands  lies  heavy  and 
almost  intolerable.  Not  one  soul  there  knows  the 
Truth,  and  there  is  no  Truth-bearer,  and  the 
kingdom  cannot  yet  come.  Ten  years  ago  I  first 
went  to  the  Central  Sudan,  and  to-day  in  that  great 
Hausa  empire,  there  is  only  one  mission-station. 
Ten  years'  work  in  the  Hausa  Mohammedan  States 
and  only  one  station,  with  still  a  vast  country 
stretching  east,  west,  and  north  from  Zaria,  without 
one  mission-station  until  one  gets  to  the  Mediter 
ranean  littoral  on  the  north,  and  Khartoum  on  the 
east  !  In  my  early  dream  I  seemed  to  see  in  these 
ten  years  the  Hausa  country  evangelized,  and  our 
forces  to  be  well  on  the  way  to  carrying  the  Gospel 
into  the  lands  beyond  !  Are  we  to  be  any  longer 
thwarted?  And  will  the  Church  of  Christ  still  hold 
back  and  refuse  to  give  us  the  men  we  ask  for,  that 
soon  the  blessed  Name  may  be  taken  to  all  these 
great  lands  and  cities  ?  " 

And  from  East  Africa,  and  East  Central 
Africa,  the  call  is  just  the  same. 

India.  We  turn  now  to   India,   where  modern 

Mohammedan  missions  were  born.      It  is 


How  Save  It?  291 

beginning  to  be  felt  that  more  specialisa 
tion  is  needed  for  Moslem  work,  so  distinct 
in  every  way  from  work  among  Hindus. 
If  missionaries  specialised  in  their  training 
more — perhaps  by  learning  Arabic  and 
studying  Moslem  literature  in  a  centre  like 
Cairo, — and  if  work  for  Moslems  were 
treated  more  as  a  unity,  even  greater 
results  would  be  secured. 

"The  accessions  from  Islam  "  (says  Dr  Wherry), 
"  especially  in  Northern  India,  have  been  continuous 
during  all  the  years  since  the  death  of  Henry 
Martyn.  One  here  and  another  there  has  been 
added  to  the  Christian  Church,  so  that  now,  as  one 
looks  over  the  rolls  of  Christian  membership,  one  is 
surprised  to  find  so  many  converts  from  Islam,  or 
the  children  and  children's  children  of  such  con 
verts.  In  the  north,  especially  in  the  Punjab  and 
North-West  Frontier  Province,  every  congregation 
has  a  representation  from  the  Moslem  ranks.  Some 
of  the  churches  have  a  majority  of  their  member 
ship  gathered  from  among  the  Mussulmans.  .  .  • 
But  perhaps  the  fact  that  tells  most  clearly  the 
story  of  the  advance  of  Christianity  among  Moslems 
in  India  is  this,  that  among  the  native  pastors  and 
Christian  preachers  and  teachers  in  North  India, 
there  are  at  least  two  hundred  who  were  once 
followers  of  Islam." 

India  leads  us  on  in  thought  to  the  great  Central  Asia, 
vastnesses    of    Central    Asia.      Down   the 


292       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

north-west  frontier  of  India  is  the  long  line  of 
Mission  outposts  stretching  from  Peshawar 
to  Quetta,  and  in  every  one  of  these  stations 
medical  work  is  being  carried  on.  They  are 
something  more  than  outposts — they  are 
bases.  Already  the  itinerant  medical  mis 
sionary  can  pass  over  into  Central  Asia  :  at 
least  one  branch  dispensary  in  charge  of  an 
Indian  hospital  assistant  has  been  estab 
lished  across  the  frontier  with  good  results. 
Across  Afghanistan  and  into  the  Tur- 
kestans  we  come,  across  the  old  trade  route 
of  South  Central  Asia :  by  that  route, 
from  west  to  east,  went  the  Moslems,  who 
settled  in  China  and  became  the  ancestors 
of  the  twenty  million  Chinese  Moslems  to 
day  :  by  that  route,  from  east  to  west, 
go  to-day  the  Chinese  mandarins  who  ad 
minister  Chinese  Turkestan  :  by  that  route 
from  west  to  east  will  one  day  run,  per 
haps  soon,  the  Transcaspian  Railway,  a 
second  and  southern  trunk  line  linking 
Russia  to  Northern  China,  passing  through 
the  very  heart  of  the  old  home  of  the  Turks, 
and  along  the  main  artery  of  Asiatic  Islam. 
Why  not,  then,  by  that  route  messengers  of 
the  Cross  ?  In  these  lands,  too,  we  must 
never  forget  the  work  of  the  Bible  Society, 


How  Save  It  ?  293 

and  the  testimony  borne  by  the  lives  of  its 
heroic  colporteurs.  It  reaches  some  Asiatic 
Moslems  and  helps  to  stop  further  advance 
on  the  part  of  Islam  in  heathen  Mongolia. 

And  in  the  Turkestans  also  a  start  has 
been  made  :  brave  Swedish  and  German 
pioneers  are  at  work,  and  Bokhara,  nearly 
as  great  a  spiritual  centre  as  Cairo,  and 
one  of  the  great  "  University  "  towns  in 
the  world  of  Islam,  has  been  occupied.  In 
Chinese  Turkestan  as  well,  work  is  being 
carried  on  in  the  important  towns  of 
Kashgar,  Yarkand,  and  Khotan.  The  New 
Testament  has  been  translated  into  the 
Tartar-Turkish  of  the  district,  and  the  first- 
fruits  of  conversion  have  been  won. 

Moreover,  there  are  signs  that  these 
great  lands  will  be  entered  from  other 
quarters  also  :  the  Central  Asian  Pioneer 
Mission  is  striving  to  go  up  from  Kashmir  ; 
and  in  late  years  a  China  Inland  Missionary 
advanced  into  the  west  of  the  same  terri 
tory  from  North  West  China,  and  in  the 
second  of  two  journeys  arrived  at  Kashgar,  a 
fnll  thousand  miles  to  the  west,  thus  crossing 
the  entire  breadth  of  Chinese  Turkestan. 

Descending  with  the  caravans  after  their  China, 
long,  weary  march,  into  the  plains  of  China. 


294      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

we  find  that  little,  if  any,  special  work  has 
been  done  for  her  millions  of  Mohammedans. 
The  Church  has  been,  and  is,  straining  every 
nerve  to  meet  the  tremendous  call  which 
heathen  China  has  made,  and  gather  the 
rich,  and  easier,  harvest  to  be  reaped  there. 
Assuredly  Mohammedan  China  will  one 
day  benefit  from  the  ingathering  of  the 
non-Mohammedans,  and  the  Christianising 
of  the  Empire  as  a  whole.  Yet  it  may  be, 
that  the  time  has  come  to  study  and  meet 
more  directly  the  needs  of  this  great  room 
in  the  House  of  Islam. 

Dutch  East  The  most  successful  Mohammedan  mis 

sion  field  in  the  world  is  the  East  Indian 
Archipelago,  where,  especially  in  Java  and 
Sumatra,  the  Dutch  missions  have  accom 
plished  a  wonderful  work. 

(1)  The   Missions    are   favoured   by   the 
Government  in  the  sense  that  they  are  not 
disfavoured,  feared,  thwarted,  or  discrimi 
nated  against. 

(2)  They  have  done,   concurrently  with 
direct  work   among  Islam,   the  important 
work     of     saving     that     which     remains. 
In    Sumatra,    strong    missionary    work    is 
being  done  among  the  heathen  Battaks  of 
the  North— half  a  million  out  of  625,000— 


How  Save  It?  295 

who  have  sturdily  resisted  Islam,  and 
62,000  of  these  have  been  baptised  and 
organised  into  regular  congregations  !  and 
in  addition  there  are  10,000  catechumens. 

(3)  Missions  have  done  a  most  successful 
direct  work  among  the  Moslems  them 
selves.  Free  and  unflinching  methods 
have  been  pursued,  and  the  result  will  as 
tonish  the  reader,  hitherto  accustomed  to 
hear  of  conversions  in  units  or  at  most  tens  : 
—6500  converts  have  been  baptised,  with 
1150  catechumens  !  The  German  Rhenish 
Mission  alone  has  eight  stations,  sixty-seven 
out-stations,  and  nearly  six  thousand  con 
verts.  In  one  circuit,  out  of  eighty- one 
chiefs  twenty-five  are  Christian.  The 
Christianity  of  the  Moslem  converts  is 
more  deeply  conscientious  than  that  of 
others  ;  "  friction  with  Islam  has  weeded 
out  or  kept  away  inferior  elements." 

These  people,  moreover,  have  already 
furnished  the  Church  with  many  an  efficient 
worker  and  preacher.  And  the  total  result 
is  that  the  prestige  of  Christianity  is  great 
and  real,  and  a  strong  trend  towards  it  is 
observable.  For  once  the  tables  are  turned, 
the  social  drift  is  from  Islam.  We  read — 
and  how  significant  is  the  fact  to  those  who 


Work  among 
women  in 
Mohammedan 
lands. 


(i)  Medical 
missions. 


296      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

know  Islam  in  Africa  ! — that  "  in  the  case 
of  marriages  it  is  very  usual  for  the  Moham 
medan  party  to  accept  Christianity  !  v 

These  are  grand  results,  and  even  greater 
are  those  reported  from  Java,  where  by 
preaching,  the  sale  of  Scriptures,  and 
medical  work,  eighteen  thousand  Moham 
medans  now  living  have  been  won  over  to 

o 

Christianity,  many  of  them  at  great  cost 
and  under  severe  persecution.  The  con 
versions  from  Islam  number  three  hundred 
or  four  hundred  annually,  and  conversions 
to  Islam  are  rare. 

The  women  in  Moslem  lands  need  help 
in  every  direction.  There  is  some  distinc 
tion  to  be  drawn,  at  least  in  external 
appearance,  between  the  work  to  be  done 
lands  like  India,  where  Christian  and 


in 


civilising  influences  have  had  large  in 
direct  results,  and  such  countries  as  Persia 
and  North  Africa  where  Mohammedanism 
has  full  sway.  Yet  the  same  methods, 
adapted  somewhat  differently,  should  be 
used  in  all  work  among  Moslem  women. 
Take  first  the  work  of  medical  missions. 
This  may  be  divided  into  four  parts  : 
work  in  the  women's  hospital,  work  in 
the  harems  and  homes  of  the  people, 


NATIVE    CHRISTIAN    TEACHER     AT    BEDSIDE.,    TANGIER     HOSPITAL 


How  Save  It  ?  297 

dispensary  work,  and  village  itineration. 
The  following  pictures  might  be  multi 
plied  indefinitely :  they  illustrate  the  open 
door  in  these  so-called  "  closed "  lands, 
and  the  overwhelming  need. 

"  After  breakfast  we  begin  with  prayers  —  the  (a)  A  day  in 
general  confession,  a  prayer  or  two,  and  the  Lord's  °a 
Prayer  in  each  ward.  Those  patients  who  have  been 
in  some  time  join  as  a  rule  in  the  Confession  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  even  the  most  bigoted  seem  to 
feel  that  it  is  well  to  begin  the  day's  work  with 
prayer,  at  any  rate  they  can  feel  that  they  are  not  in 
the  hands  of  infidels.  Then  the  doctor  goes  her 
rounds,  accompanied  by  the  very  capable  Armenian 
girl-assistants.  Here  is  a  badly  burnt  child,  next  a 
little  boy  with  both  arms  fractured.  There  lies  a 
woman  waiting  for  a  serious  operation,  here  is 
another  who  has  undergone  one  a  few  days  ago. 
Here  is  a  patient  convalescent  after  a  bad  abscess, 
that  one  has  a  baby  who  has  been  torn  by  a  jackal, 
and  so  on.  Very  patient  and  grateful  many  of  them 
are,  and  very  fond  of  the  doctor  and  nurse  and  their 
assistants,  but  some  of  the  new-comers  are  at  first 
inclined  to  grumble  and  disobey  orders. 

"  If  it  is  operation  morning  you  will  see  all  carried 
out  quietly,  carefully,  methodically,  as  in  an  English 
hospital.  The  operating  theatre  and  instruments 
are  as  clean  as  they  can  be  anywhere,  and  you  seem 
for  the  moment  to  have  left  Persia.  The  wards  are 
clean  too,  and  the  patients  wear  clean  hospital 
clothing — Persian  clothing.  The  only  thing  we  miss 
are  the  chairs,  they  sit  on  the  floor.  In  the  after- 


298      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

noon,,  while  the  doctor  is  out  visiting,  the  Armenian 
assistants  are  in  the  hospital,  and  the  nurse,  or 
another  missionary,  or  one  of  the  Armenian  girls, 
takes  a  reading  in  each  ward  and  teaches  the  people. 
The  doctor  seldom  has  time  for  this  herself  except  on 
Sunday.  The  evening  closes  with  prayers  after  supper. 
(b)  A  morning's  First  on  to-day's  visiting  list  is  the  house  of  a  rich 
merchant.  I  am  admitted  to  the  larger  compound 
where  the  family  live,  the  smaller  is  reserved  for  the 
men,  and  there  they  receive  their  visitors.  1  am 
shown  into  the  large  reception  room  beautifully 
carpeted.  The  samovar  and  tiny  tea  things  are  set 
out  at  one  end  of  the  room.  I  am  led  up  with 
many  greetings  and  salaams  to  the  end  furthest 
from  the  door,  and  placed  on  a  chair  (the  only  one, 
specially  brought  from  the  men's  quarters  for  me) 
close  to  the  window.  The  lady  of  the  house  inquires 
after  my  health,  and  that  of  each  individual  member 
of  my  family,  and  answers  similar  inquiries  on  my 
part.  Then  the  same  routine  has  to  be  gone  through 
with  her  daughter-in-lawT,  and  again  with  a  second 
daughter-in-law,  and  again  with  two  friends  who  are 
present.  Then,  having  accepted  the  honour  done 
to  me  by  the  provision  of  a  chair,  I  slip  down  to 
the  floor  beside  them,  and  desultory  conversation 
follows  till  tea  is  ready.  Up  to  this  point  my 
attempt  to  turn  the  conversation  to  medical  matters 
fails,  but  every  one  having  had  a  cup  of  tea  we  go 
on  to  business,  and  prescriptions  are  given.  It  is 
getting  late,  but  now  comes  the  opportunity  for 
reading  and  a  Bible  talk,  and  all  assent,  and  listen 
attentively. 

"  Next  comes  a  wretched  hovel — in  one  corner  is 
a  great  pile  of  pomegranate  skins,  and  close  by  lies 


How  Save  It?  299 

an  old  woman  helpless  with  rheumatism  and  sciatica 
on  a  pile  of  filthy  rags.  There  is  a  bit  of  ragged 
matting  over  part  of  the  Moor  :  the  fowls  are  walking 
about  the  tiny  room  quite  at  home  there.  No 
neighbours  come  in  this  time,  the  poor  old  body  is 
alone  and  neglected,  only  attended  by  a  ten-year-old 
grandchild. 

"  Now  to  the  house  of  a  big  government  official — 
his  women  are  kept  very  closely  in  their  quarters. 
The  cry  goes  round  that  the  Khanum  has  come,  and 
all  quickly  gather  for  one  of  the  few  excitements 
they  get.  Sherbet  and  tea  are  unavoidable  ;  eagerly 
do  they  welcome  medical  help  and  talk  from  the 
outside  world,  but  they  are  glad,  like  the  rest,  of 
reading  and  a  talk  on  religious  matters.  The  visit 
has  to  be  cut  short — there  is  yet  another  to  pay. 

A  bigoted  Seyyid  has  his  little  daughter  ill  with 
diphtheria,  and  the  fear  of  losing  her  has  made  him 
call  in  the  hated  mission  doctor.  In  spite  of  the 
infection,  the  room  is  crowded  with  women  and 
children  come  to  express  sympathy  with  the  parents, 
who  are  influential  people.  This  visit  is  strictly 
medical — the  child  is  quickly  stopped  from  accepting 
a  safety  pin  that  has  caught  her  fancy— all  round 
are  looks  of  suspicion  and  dislike.  Any  attempt  at 
religious  topics  is  discouraged.  But  as  I  rise  to 
leave,  tea  is  offered  and  refused,  then  a  whisper  is 
overheard  :  '  She  thinks  them  unclean,  she  will  not 
drink  tea  in  their  house.'  To  speak  again  of  risk 
of  infection  would  be  quite  misunderstood,  it  has 
been  mentioned  already  and  listened  to  with  obvious 
unbelief,  so  there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  try  to 
show  our  Lord's  readiness  to  deal  with  all  men  by 
taking  the  tea. 


300      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

(c)  A  dispensary  "  We  breakfast  at  6  a.m.  in  our  own  house,  con- 
day  in  Shiraz.  scjous  that  from  twenty  to  forty  patients  are  already 
waiting  outside  the  dispensary,  some  thirty  yards 
down  the  street.  By  6.30  a.m.,  when  we  go  over 
there,  sixty  or  seventy  patients  are  sitting  in  the 
courtyard  wrapped  in  their  chadars.  After  prayers 
medical  work  begins  :  in  our  dispensary  we  make  a 
great  point  of  seeing  each  group  of  patients  in 
private,  this  takes  a  little  longer,  but  is  found  to  be 
worth  while.  While  I  see  patients,  a  helper  calls 
for  all  the  '  eye-cases '  from  the  courtyard,  and 
collects  them  in  another  room,  so  that  I  can  see 
them  very  quickly,  as  nearly  all  are  the  same — 
various  stages  of  granular  lids  and  entropion. 

"  Meantime  I  see  the  people  in  order  of  arrival  in 
groups  of  two  or  three.  Here  we  have  a  poor  little 
nine-year-old  victim  of  the  iniquitous  child-marriage 
system,  who  will  never  fully  recover.  Then  a  dozen 
chronic  cases,  followed  by  a  child  with  incipient 
tuberculosis.  Then  comes  a  very  typical  case,  a 
well-to-do  woman  whose  husband  has  taken  a  second 
wife  because  she  has  no  child.  '  I  will  pay  any 
thing  you  like,  if  only  you  will  enable  me  to  have  a 
child ' — such  a  common  cry.  I  have  a  special  day 
for  these  cases,  and  every  week  see  thirty  or  forty  of 
them.  This  woman  has  seen  her  fellow  wife  among 
the  crowd,  and  begs  me  not  to  tell  what  she  has 
come  for  if  I  am  asked.  Later  on  the  second  wife 
comes  with  a  similar  request ;  it  is  a  race  for  supre 
macy  in  the  home.  Then  there  is  the  woman 
whose  husband  is  going  to  divorce  her  if  she  has 
no  child  soon — he  cannot  afford  to  keep  two  wives, 
as  in  the  previous  case.  And  so  the  work  goes  on 
till  4  p.m.,  wrhen  the  dispensary  is  closed. 


How  Save  It?  301 

"  With  the  very  serious  cases,  it  is  almost  im 
possible  to  deal  without  an  in-patients'  department, 
which  we  had  not  in  Shiraz.  We  had  for  a  time  a 
single  room,  partly  carpeted,  partly  covered  with 
rough  matting,  where  we  had  a  few  '  beds,'  no  bed 
steads,  just  bags  filled  with  straw,  and  rough  cotton 
quilts.  Here  we  took  in  dying  cases  from  a  distance 
for  their  last  days,  often  only  their  last  hours,  alle 
viated  by  such  measures  as  wre  could  take,  instead 
of  leaving  them  to  die  on  the  rough  journey  home. 
More  cheering  were  the  few  cases  we  took  in  for 
cure,  who  almost  always  did  well. 

"  It  was  only  a  tiny  village  !  We  did  not  mean  to  (d)  Village 
do  any  medical  work,  we  had  brought  no  drugs,  W 
having  come  for  a  holiday  after  long  bouts  of  fever 
in  the  town.  But  they  came  to  us — begging  so  for 
something  for  a  sick  baby  in  the  village,  something 
for  a  woman  in  great  suffering  who  had  come  six 
miles  to  see  me,  something  for  a  man  who  was  losing 
his  sight,  and  so  his  means  of  livelihood,  and  so  on, 
and  so  on.  We  secured  a  few  drugs;  the  news  spread 
to  all  the  little  villages  round,  and  every  day  we  had 
a  party  of  about  twenty  for  prayers,  and  afterwards 
for  treatment.  The  Christian  teaching  roused  no 
opposition,  scarcely  even  an  objection,  they  felt  it 
good,  very  good.  But  it  was  only  a  sprinkling — was 
it  enough  to  sink  in  ?  We  left  after  a  fortnight. 

"  When  we  went  with  itinerating  outfit,  we  held 
regular  dispensaries  in  larger  villages,  and  all  the 
villages  for  miles  round  sent  in  their  patients."  l 

The  fringe  of  the  work  in  Persia  with  its 

1  From  notes  by  Mrs  Napier  Malcolm,  M.B.,  Loud. 


302      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

eight  million  inhabitants  is  barely  touched. 
There  are  three  properly  equipped  British 
(C.M.S.)  medical  mission  stations,  in  Ispa 
han,  Yezd,  and  Kirman,  besides  American 
medical  work.  Of  the  results  Miss  Stuart, 
the  lady  doctor  at  Ispahan,  writes  :— 

"  The  mullahs  are  as  a  class  bitterly  opposed  to 
us,  but  even  they  will  send  for  us  to  attend  them 
when  ill,  arid  their  opposition  is  only  a  sign  that  our 
work  is  having  such  an  influence  on  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  the  people  that  they  dread  to  lose  their 
own.  Not  long  ago  one  of  the  more  enlightened 
mullahs  was  preaching  in  a  mosque  in  Ispahan,  and 
after  referring  to  the  fact  that  many  Moslems  were 
accepting  Christianity  he  said  :  '  There  is  only  one 
way  to  stop  them.  It  is  not  by  opposing  and  per 
secuting  them,, — that  will  only  make  them  stronger. 
We  must  copy  their  methods,  we  must  build  hospitals, 
and  open  dispensaries,  and  care  for  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  the  dying  as  they  do,  for  only  thus  can  we 
keep  our  religion  alive  and  retain  our  hold  upon  the 
people.'  .  .  .  They  are  actually  beginning.  .  .  . 
They  have  opened  a  hospital  and  dispensary  not 
far  off,  but  as  their  doctors  have  had  no  training  in 
western  medicine  or  surgery  it  will  be  some  time 
before  they  succeed  in  drawing  the  people  away 
from  us,  in  spite  of  our  dreaded  Christian  teaching." 

Afghanistan.          Afghanistan  is  an  almost  untouched  land, 

—women    doctors    and    nurses    are   badly 

needed.     Till  now  in  Bannu  there  has  been 

only  a  man  doctor,  yet  forty  or  fifty  women 


How  Save  It  ?  303 

attend  the  mission  hospital  as  out-patients 
nearly  every  day — Hindus  from  the  city, 
and  Mohammedan  women  from  the  villages, 
often  from  very  great  distances.1 

Medical  missions  have  been  dwelt  on  at 
length  because  at  present  in  Mohammedan 
lands  they  create  the  open  door,  and 
because  of  the  hopeless,  weary  suffering 
among  Moslem  women,  which  everywhere 
cries  out  for  help. 

Practically  there  is  very  little  higher  edu-  (2)  Education, 
cation,  as  we  understand  it,  among  Moslem 
women.  In  a  great  number  of  countries 
the  girls  will  come  to  a  mission  school 
until  they  are  from  ten  to  eleven  years 
old  (in  some  countries  till  fifteen),  when 
they  are  betrothed.  Then  if  they  belong 
to  the  upper  classes,  confinement  to  the 
house  begins  ;  if  to  the  lower,  they  probably 
stop  coming  to  school  even  earlier.  Hence 
for  educational  work,  house  to  house  visit 
ing  is  the  only  chance  of  educating  the 
women,  and  here  often  the  trained  indus 
trial  worker  as  well  as  the  ordinary  teacher 
is  needed.  Music  too  is  of  real  value,  often 
bringing  an  opening  for  Christian  teaching 
later  on. 

1  See  Dr  Peiinell's  book,  Chap.  XV. 


304      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

To  some  extent  India  has  greater  oppor 
tunities  for  higher  educational  work  than 
other  lands.  Miss  de  Selincourt  writes 
from  Allahabad  :— 

"  A  striking  feature  at  the  present  time  is  the 
increasing  desire  for  women's  education  in  the 
Mohammedan  community,  and  the  increasing  readi 
ness  of  Government  to  promote  it,  e.g.  :  In  the 
United  Provinces,  regulations  have  just  been  issued 
(April  1908)  by  the  Education  Department  of 
Government,  offering  generous  prizes  and  scholar 
ships  to  induce  Mohammedan  women  to  take 
Government  examinations  and  be  trained  as 
teachers.  There  is  urgent  need  for  a  larger  supply 
of  women  missionaries  with  the  qualifications  and 
training  necessary  to  keep  (or  bring)  our  educa 
tional  work  up  to  the  standard  of  modern  require 
ments.  Otherwise  we  cannot  hope  to  continue  to 
enjoy  our  present  opportunities,  either  in  zenanas 
or  schools.  There  is  still  a  place,  and  a  large  place, 
for  really  efficient  missionary  educational  work.  A 
striking  example  of  this  is  the  latest  development 
in  the  Isabella  Thoburn  College,  Lucknow.  The 
Mohammedans  have  for  some  time  been  urging 
them  to  open  a  hostel  in  connection  with  it  for  their 
daughters.  Government  also  approached  them,  offer 
ing  them  a  large  grant  if  they  would  conduct  the 
hostel  on  purely  secular  lines,  and  talked  of  opening 
one  of  their  own,  if  the  missionaries  would  not  agree 
to  their  terms.  The  missionaries  stood  out,  and  now 
Government  has  withdrawn  its  restrictions,  given 
them  the  grant,  and  declared  its  willingness  to  recog- 


VILLAGE    ITINERATING    WORK    AMONG    MOSLEMS^    LOWER    EGYPT 
CATECHIST  PREACHING.      DISPENSING  TENT.      MISSIONARY'S  HOUSE-BOAT 


ilB^fjf*  -If 

fc.          ...,:irr^^ 

MOSLEM    GIRLS    UNDER    CHRISTIAN    INSTRUCTION,    SUDAN 


How  Save  It  ?  305 

nise  the  hostel  instead  of  starting  a  Government  one. 
This  hostel  for  Mohammedan  girls  will,  it  is  hoped, 
shortly  be  opened,  and  the  missionaries  will  have 
an  absolutely  free  hand  in  the  matter  of  religious 
teaching.  It  will  be,  I  believe,  the  first  hostel  of 
the  kind  in  North  India,  and  Government  is  anxious 
to  see  others  set  on  foot.  It  shows  clearly  that,  if 
we  can  but  secure  a  really  first-class  educational 
standard,  and  the  prestige  it  brings,  we  can  take 
the  tide  'at  the  flood,'  and  exercise  untold  influ 
ence  upon  this  movement  for  education.  .  .  ." 

The  women  delegates  at  the  Cairo  Con 
ference  of  1906  make  the  following  appeal : 

"  We  feel  that  an  outcry  against  the  cruelty  and 
injustice  of  men  is  not  the  way  to  meet  these  evils. 
There  is  no  remedy  but  to  bring  the  women  to  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

"  The  number  of  Moslem  women  is  so  vast — not 
less  than  100,000,000— that  any  adequate  effort  to 
meet  the  need  must  be  on  a  scale  far  wider  than  has 
ever  yet  been  attempted. 

"  We  do  not  suggest  new  organisations,,  but  that 
every  Church  and  board  of  missions  at  present 
working  in  Moslem  lands  should  take  up  their  own 
women's  branch  of  the  work  with  an  altogether  new 
ideal  before  them,  determining  to  reach  the  whole 
world  of  Moslem  women  in  this  generation.  Each 
part  of  the  women's  work  being  already  carried  on 
needs  to  be  widely  extended — trained  and  con 
secrated  women  doctors,  trained  and  consecrated 
women  teachers,  groups  of  women  workers  in  the 
villages,  an  army  of  those  with  love  in  their  hearts, 
L 


3o6      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

to  seek  and  save  the  lost.  And  with  the  willingness 
to  take  up  this  burden,  so  long  neglected,  for  the 
salvation  of  Mohammedan  women,  even  though  it 
may  prove  a  very  Calvary  to  some  of  us,  we  shall 
hear  our  Master's  voice  afresh,  with  ringing  words 
of  encouragement,  '  Have  faith  in  God.  For 
verily  I  say  unto  you  that  whosoever  shall  say 
unto  this  mountain,  Be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou 
cast  into  the  sea,  and  shall  not  doubt  in  his  heart, 
but  shall  believe  that  these  things  that  He  saith 
shall  come  to  pass,  he  shall  have  whatsoever  he 
saith.'  '  Nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you.'  " 


QUESTIONS  FOR  CHAPTER  VII 

1.  Enumerate   the   difficulties  of   Christian  work 
among    Moslems    mentioned    by    Mr   Reid.      How 
should  these  be  met  ? 

2.  Describe  the  Azhar  University-Mosque.     Why 
is  it  so  important  ?     What  methods  of  work  should 
be  used  among  its  students  ? 

3.  Discuss  the  place  that  literature  should  take  in 
work  for  Moslems. 

4.  What  is  being  done  to  reach  Moslems  through 
the  strengthening  and  purifying  of  ancient  Christian 
churches  ? 

5.  "  Islam  is  challenging  the  Christian  Church  to 
a  struggle  for  the  possession  of  Equatorial  Africa." 
Give  facts   to  prove  this  statement.     State  clearly 
how    far    the     Christian    Church    has     adequately 
responded  in   Western,   Central,   and    East    Africa. 
What  is  the  present  position  ? 


How  Save  It  ?  307 

6.  There  are  twenty  millions  of  Moslems  in  China. 
For  them,        («)  What  has  been  done  ? 

(6)  What  should  be  done  ? 

7.  What  agencies  are   at  work  in  Central  Asia  ? 
Which  of  these  are  the  more  important,  and  why  ? 

8.  There  are  about   100,000,000  Moslem  women. 
What    methods    are    employed    to     reach     them  ? 
Enumerate  the  extent  of  work,  showing  by  facts  how 
far  the  Church  has  seriously  faced  her  duty  to  them. 
What  should  be  done  ? 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY 

BARTON,  J.  L.,  D.D. — Daybreak  in  Turkey. 

Cairo     Conference      Papers  —  The     Mohammedan 

World  of  To-day. 

GAIRDNER,  W.  H.  T. — Life  of  D.  M.  Thornton. 
HUME-GRIFFITHS,  MRS — Behind  the  Veil  in   Persia 

and  Turkish  Arabia. 

MALCOLM,  N. — Five  Years  in  a  Persian  Town. 
SOMMER,  A.   V.,  and  ZWEMER,  S.   M.  (Edited  by)— 

Our  Moslem  Sisters. 
PENNELL — Among  the  Wild  Tribes  of  the  Afghan 

Frontier. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

How  SAVE  IT  ? 

(3)  The   Impossible-Possible   Problem,    and 
the  Spirit  of  Jesus 

The  problem  THE  reader  has  surely  gathered,  in  the 
course  of  studying  the  preceding  pages, 
the  reality,  the  paramount  seriousness, 
and  inevitableness,  of  the  problem  of  ISLAM 
to  the  Christian  Church.  He  has  also 
probably  wondered,  with  whatsoever  he 
is  capable  of  wonderment,  at  the  fact  that 
it  is,  nevertheless,  this  problem,  which  of 
all  others  has  been  repudiated,  blinked, 
and  shirked  by  the  Church  of  Christ.  It 
is  idle  to  speculate  on  the  ultimate  reason 
for  both  the  existence  of  the  problem,  arid 
the  behaviour  of  Christendom  in  the  face 
of  it.  It  is  also  unnecessary  to  recapitulate 
the  medley  of  reasons  which  have  been, 
and  are  still,  advanced  in  favour  of  the  very 
facile  policy  of  laissez-faire  :  it  is  palpable 
that  the  worst  of  these  are  the  offspring  of 
no-faith  in  Christianity,  dislike  of  trouble, 


How  Save  It?  309 

or  secret  cowardice ;  and  that  even  the 
best  of  them  would  not  stand  for  a 
moment  when  intellect,  heart,  and  spirit 
have  been  honestly  submitted  to  the 
spirit  or  the  letter  of  the  New  Testa 
ment,  of  Christianity,  of  Christ.  Already 
we  have  mentioned  those  reasons  with 
their  varying  degrees  of  sincerity.  But 
there  is  yet  one — it  may,  or  may  not,  be 
the  sincerest  of  them  all — which  has  not 
been  mentioned  ;  one  voice  that  is  always 
with  us — the  voice  of  him  who  says,  "  I 
allow  all  you  say — but — the  Time  has  not 
come  "  !  Often  that  voice  belongs  to  one 
to  whom  "  the  Time  "is  as  a  horizon  that 
ever  retreats  ;  it  never  does  "  come,"  nor  is 
there  in  fact  desire  that  it  should  ever 
come.  But  this  voice  sometimes  belongs 
to  those  who  only  need  the  encouragement 
given  by  information  and  by  knowledge 
to  be  turned  into  sane  enthusiasts,  who 
know  that  the  Time  has  come,  and  that 
the  day  of  action,  as  of  salvation,  is 
To-day. 

Whether  then  for  such,  or  for  ourselves, 
this  book,  and  more  particularly  this 
chapter,  is  written.  Action  is  such  an 
enormously  responsible  and  serious  a  thing 


Facing"  the 
problem. 


310      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

that  it  is  no  wonder  if  a  man  refuses  to  be 
committed  to  it  unless  intellect,  heart  and 
spirit  have  been  convinced,  and  are  at  rest. 
It  would  seem  a  strange  way  of  stimulat 
ing  action,  to  mass  and  to  focus  the  facts 
which  cow  and  discourage  it.  Neverthe 
less  that  is  what  we  are  about  to  do.  It 
is  written  : 

"  What  king,  as  he  goeth  to  encounter  another 
king  in  war,  will  not  sit  down  first  and  take  counsel 
whether  he  is  able  with  ten  thousand  to  meet  him 
that  cometh  against  him  witli  twenty  thousand?" 

We  are  now  going  to  take  careful  and 
deliberate  stock  of  that  twenty  thousand. 
But  was  this  stock-taking  intended  by  the 
divine  Commander  to  discourage  action  ? 
Surely,  to  call  it  out ;  to  awaken  dormant 
energies,  unsuspected  heroisms  ;  to  inspire 
shame  of  that  so  miserable  army  of  ten 
thousand,  and  thus  to  urge  the  calling 
out  of  the  infinite  resources  and  unknown 
reserves  which  are  available  to  reinforce  it. 


Challenge  of  "  Islam  is  the  only  one  of  the  great 
religions  to  come  after  Christianity ;  the 
only  one  that  definitely  claims  to  correct, 
complete  and  supersede  Christianity;  the 


How  Save  It?  311 

only  one  that  categorically  denies  the  truth 
of  Christianity;  the  only  one  that  has  in 
the  past  signally  defeated  Christianity ;  the 
only  one  that  seriously  disputes  the  world 
with  Christianity ;  the  only  one  which,  in 
several  parts  of  the  world,  is  to-day  fore 
stalling  and  gaining  on  Christianity."  l 

These  words,  taken  from  a  recent  sum 
mary  of  the  problem  and  the  reproach  of 
Islam,  sum  up  the  main  reason  why  Islam 
is  a  unique  problem  to  the  Christian  Church; 
unique  in  its  urgency,  unique  in  its  diffi 
culty.  It  cannot  be  treated  like  any  other  : 
it  baffles  more  than  any  other,  for  it  is 
more  difficult  to  concede  to  it  what  is  gladly 
conceded  to  other  religions  that  appeared 
before  Christ,  that  they  in  some  sort  pre 
pared  and  prepare  the  way  for  Him.  How 
can  that  which  denies  the  whole  essential  and 
particular  content  of  His  message  be  said  to 
prepare  for  Him,  or  to  be  a  half-way  house 
to  His  Kingdom  ?  For  that  is  what  Islam 
does.  Other  religions  know  nothing  of 
Christianity ;  one  and  all  they  came  before 
it  and  speak  of  it  neither  good  nor  evil. 
But  the  whole  theory  of  Islam  is  that  it, 

1  The  Moslem  Menace.  C.M.S.  Series,  C(  Day  of  Oppor 
tunity." 


312      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  latest-sent  of  all  religions,  does  not  so 
much  abrogate  Christianity  with  its  Book, 
as  specifically  and  categorically  deny  both  as 
wilful  corruption  and  lies.  Point  by  point, 
each  truth  of  Christianity,  steeped  through 
and  through  with  the  tenderness  of  the  love 
of  God,  is  negated  with  abhorrence  by  Islam; 
—the  Fatherhood  of  God  ;  the  Sonship  and 
Incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ ;  the  Divinity  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  death  of  Christ  and  all 
that  it  means,  whether  ethically — of  love, 
infinite  tenderness,  infinite  self-sacrifice ;  or 
spiritually — of  sin  condemned,  and  sin 
forgiven ;  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  on 
the  third  day  ;  His  glorification  with  the 
Father  with  the  glory  which  He  had  with 
Him  before  the  world  was — each  several 
truth  of  these  truths  is  a  blasphemy  in  the 
eyes  of  every  Moslem,  a  lie  which  Islam 
came  expressly  to  blast,  taught  by  a  Book 
which  the  Koran  came  expressly  to  re 
place. 

It  is  easier  to  convince  a  man  of  that  of 
which  he  knows  nothing  in  particular,  than 
of  that  which  he  firmly  believes  to  be  de 
finitely  false.  Add  to  this,  that  Islam 
actually  succeeded  in  displacing,  humbling, 
and  destroying  that  which  bore  the  name 


'*"'*• 

AN    ARMENIAN     CHRISTIAN    DISPENSER    ON    TOUR 


MODERN    METHODS    OF    ITINERATION,    EGYPT 


How  Save  It  ?  313 

of  Christianity  in  many  lands  ;  and  so 
Moslems  became  yet  further  convinced  of 
the  weakness  and  ignorance  of  Christians, 
and  of  their  disfavour  with  God.  The  rise 
of  the  Christian  nations  has  done  nothing 
to  dispel  this,  for  Islam  puts  that  down  to 
anything  but  their  religion.  It  therefore 
burns  with  a  two-fold  desire  to  revenge  its 
own  humiliation  on  the  unbelieving  nations 
whose  yoke  is  on  its  neck,  and  to  vindicate 
its  own  still  unfulfilled  claims  to  univer 
sality  and  supreme  victory. 

Its  universality.  For  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Buddhism,  no  other  great  non- 
Christian  religion  seriously  cares  whether  it 
becomes  universal  or  not.  Some  indeed 
expressly  repudiate  universality.  Islam 
alone  claims  it,  and  actively  and  ceaselessly 
works  to  make  good  its  claim.  Do  we  need 
any  more  words  as  to  the  inevitableness 
of  the  problem  of  Islam  ?  But  as  to  its 
seriousness  ?  Back  to  that  Church-mosque 
at  Damascus  whence  we  took  our  start ! 
See  where  a  Cross  once  stood,  and  where 
there  stands  a  Crescent  to-day !  That  sight 
stands  for,  and  typifies,  what  every  Moslem 
sees  inwardly,  and  believes  he  has  the  right 
to  see  actually,  when  he  looks  at  the  Cross 


314      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

on  every  continental  Cathedral  spire,  every 
English  Minster  rising  from  the  sweet  silent 
Close,  every  village  church,  from  whose 
belfry-tower  the  chimes  come  like  a  bene 
diction  over  the  hamlet  nestling  at  its  feet, 
and  the  meadow-lands  smiling  in  the  sun 
light  beyond.  .  . 

So  much  for  the  problem's  inevitableness  : 
so  much  for  its  seriousness.  But  this  is 
not  all.  What  has  been  told  does  not  tell 
yet  half  the  difficulty. 

Difficulty  of  the  We  have  to  remember  that  the  Moslem 
knows  that  his  religion  arose  in  the  full  light 
of  historic  day.  His  intellect  goes  back  to, 
and  rests  on,  the  undoubted  historic  fact  of 
Mohammed,  the  Arabian  Prophet  who  was 
given  a  Book  from  heaven,  the  authenticity 
of  which  none  denies,  the  strangeness  of 
which,  as  coming  from  Mohammed,  none 
questions.  Here  are  phenomena,  universally 
admitted,  which  seem  to  him  a  conclusive 
proof  of  divine  action.  The  very  absence 
of  miracle  is  becoming  a  matter  of  boast  to 
him.  Educated  men  are  saying  that  Islam 
is  the  only  rational  religion  that  does  not 
ascribe  to  its  founder  an  irrational  miracle 
—it  only  claimed  the  rational  miracle  of 
the  Koran  itself.  And  so  forth.  All  this 


How  Save  It?  315 

gives  the  Moslem  hard  ground  on  which  to 
plant  his  feet  in  denying  and  rejecting  any 
other  faith,  and  adds  to  the  strength  with 
which  he  cleaves  to  his  own. 

Nor  is   this   all,  or  nearly  all.      Add  to  (a)  Simplicity  of 
this  the  simplicity  and  the  rigid  definite- Moslem  creed 
ness  of    the   creed   to   which   the   Moslem 
invites     the    world's     adherence.        Islam 
simplifies   with   a   vengeance  !     "  There  is 
no  god  but  Allah,  and  Mohammed  is  the 
Apostle  of  Allah  "  :  a  child  can  learn  it  in 
a    moment,    and    to  its  vigorous  negative 
exclusion,   and  simple  universal  assertion, 
a  meaning  can  be  instantly  attached.     It 
seems  to  require  no  explaining,  no  elabora 
tion  ;     it    can    never    be    forgotten ;     the 
densest  intellect  can  hold  on  to  it ;  and  to 
it  moreover  an  infinite  virtue  and  value  has 
been  solemnly  attached.    The  Moslem  has 
as  little  demand  made  on  his  intellect  as  on 
his  moral  faculty  :    his  is  the  ideal  religion 
for   "  the  plain   man,"    "  the  man  in  the 
street,"  those  familiar  figures  who  in  reality 
stand  for  the  man  who  dislikes  having  to 
trouble  himself  in  religious  matters. 

Not  that  the  Moslem  spares  trouble  in 
his  religion  ;  but  it  is  of  the  kind  that  costs 
human  nature  least,  and  especially  oriental 


316      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

human  nature — obedience  to  a  fixed,  rigid, 
and  invariable  series  of  ordinances  and  pro 
hibitions.  He  has  not  the  trouble  of  asking 
why,  or  of  looking  for  principles.  He  need 
not  keep  a  vexatious  conscience  which  con 
tinually  asks  him  if  he  is  keeping  the  spirit 
of  God's  Will. 

(b)  Low  moral  This  only  brings  us  to  aspects  even  more 
Moslem  creed,  bitter  to  contemplate  in  the  light  of  our 
present  purpose.  For  this  fatal  sim 
plification  which  Islam  makes  in  creed 
and  code  leads  naturally  to  a  further  con 
trast,  that  between  the  propaganda  of  the 
two  religions — between  their  task  and  ours. 
Let  us  face  this  thing ;  let  us  look  at  it 
until  we  are  veritably  overwhelmed  by  the 
superhuman  odds  against  Christianity,  the 
impossible  handicap  which  the  spirit  de 
liberately  assesses  against  itself  in  its  con 
test  with  the  flesh.  For  it  stands  to  reason 
that  this  externality  and  simplicity  must 
give  Islam  favour  in  the  eyes  of  the  sons  of 
Adam,  especially  the  unnumbered  millions 
in  Africa  to-day,  for  whom  such  a  creed, 
and  such  a  code,  are  in  addition  to  their 
facility  and  the  poverty  of  their  demands, 
an  undoubted  step  beyond  the  incoherence 
and  chaos  of  their  native  animism.  To 


How  Save  It?  317 

such,  the  new  religion,  which  gives  them 
a  standing  in  the  world  of  men,  whose 
simple  creed  gives  them  intellectual  satis 
faction,  while  its  code  deals  lightly  with  the 
fundamental  lusting  of  the  human  heart, 
is  irresistibly  attractive.  They  flock  into 
it,  and  it  is  content  to  let  them  flock  in 
by  the  thousand,  no  question  asked,  no 
scrutiny  prescribed  in  regard  to  motives.  .  .  . 
Motives!  that  is  for  Allah  to  judge,  not 
man.  For  Mohammed  emphatically  for 
bade  the  rejection  of  any  man  who  pro 
fessed  Islam  by  repeating  the  Kalima 
(The  "  Word,"  i.e.  Creed)  ;  and  Islam  has 
joyously  followed  his  lead — little  it  cares 
for  the  state  of  soul  of  him  who  makes  his 
profession  !  Are  not  his  children  certain 
to  be  Moslem  to  the  core  ?  And  so  Islam 
spreads  and  spreads.  Against  a  propaganda 
such  as  this,  what  chance  has  a  religion 
which  demands  the  surrender  of  the  whole 
man,  the  subordination  of  flesh  to  spirit  by 
the  branding  of  the  former  with  the  slave - 
mark  of  the  Cross  ;  which  searches  for  the 
"one"  sheep —for  individual  souls,  which 
insists  on  the  importance  of  principle,  the 
duty  of  loving  the  spirit  of  the  command 
ment  !of  Jesus  ?  No  wonder  Moslems  boast, 


(c)  Low  moral 
standard  of 
Moslem  propa 
gandists. 


318      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

all  over  the  Moslem  world,  of  the  religion 
which  spreads  with  so  divine  a  spontaneity, 
and  point  with  contemptuous  pity  to  the 
painful  efforts  of  Christianity,  the  por 
tentous  outpouring  of  energy  on  the  part 
of  its  devoted  agents,  with  the  pitifully  in 
commensurate  results.  As  one  Moslem 
writer  in  Cairo  put  it,  speaking  more  truly 
than  he  knew,  "  Christianity  opposes,  Islam 
follows,  the  current  of  human  nature." 

But  this  is  not  all.  Not  only  is  a  simple 
moral  standard  demanded  from  the  prose 
lyte,  but  an  equally  simple  standard  is 
allowed  to  the  proselytiser.  What  is  the 
moral  standard,  do  we  suppose,  of  the 
Arab  traders  and  ex-slavers,  the  Sudanese 
malams,  who  spread  the  faith  in  West  and 
East  Africa  ?  It  may  be  good,  indifferent, 
or  downright  bad — yet  in  each  case  alike 
the  man  may  be  a  highly  successful  worker 
for  Islam.  Where  little  is  expected,  there  is 
no  disappointment.  So  we  get  the  strange 
fact  that  bad  men  may  be  fervent  pro 
fessors  of  Islam — tyrants,  bullies,  liars,  for- 
nicators,  men  of  blood,  but  fanatics  for  the 
religion  of  Allah  and  his  Prophet,  consigning 
heartily  to  Jehannam  all  others — such  men 
may  be  and  are  real  promoters  of  Islam. 


How  Save  It?  319 

We  may  admit,  and  earnestly  lay  to  heart 
the  admission,  that  those  men  at  least  are 
willing  to  receive  into  fraternity  the 
wretches  they  have  wronged,  or  still  wrong. 
It  may  be  at  bottom  a  tremendous  proof 
of  the  divinity  of  Christianity  that  the 
"  Christian  "  trader,  living  in  sin,  is  not  and 
cannot  be  an  advertisement  of  his  religion, 
and  that  moreover  he  neither  calls  himself 
a  Christian,  nor  cares  if  he  be  known  as 
such,  or  no.  The  fact  remains  that  Islam 
can,  and  does,  use  instruments  which  Chris 
tianity  must  deliberately  and  necessarily 
refuse.  What  shall  we  call  such  a  contest 
as  this  ?  One  is  tempted,  again  and  again, 
to  turn  away  with  a  groan,  as  the  French 
general  did  when  he  surveyed  what  was 
essayed  at  Balaklava — ic  It  is  magnificent, 
but  it  is  not  la  guerre." 

Yet  even  this  is  not  all.     This  is  not  the  (d)  Barrier  of 
only  point  in  which  our  Christian  propa-  C1 
gandism  seems  positively  to  defeat  itself  by 
its  high  standard :   we  have  not  yet  con 
sidered  the  simplicity  of  their  culture  and 
race    problems,    the    complexity    of    ours. 
Christian  culture — in  the  high  sense  that  in 
cludes  character — is  a  thing  of  long  growth, 
with  roots  far  back  in  the  past,  and  deep 


320      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

down  in  Christ,  Who  is  the  Truth,  not  only 
in  religion,  but  in  knowledge  and  in  art  as 
well.  He  who  has  that  culture  cannot  if  he 
would,  should  not  if  he  could,  divest  him 
self  of  it.  And  yet  how  often  and  how 
often  the  messenger  of  Christ  feels  it  a 
veritable  barrier  between  himself  and  those 
to  whom  he  comes.  The  very  thought  that 
there  are  whole  realms  of  soul-life  which  he 
cannot  impart  to  these  people,  into  which 
they  can  never  enter,  is,  more  than  he 
realises  perhaps,  a  discouragement  to  him ; 
more  than  they  realise,  an  obstacle  to  them. 
A  gulf  seems  fixed — can  it  indeed  be  crossed, 
or  narrowed  ?  Thus  it  is  that  the  very  com 
plexity  of  European  culture  at  its  simplest 
—the  glorious  successes  that  its  centuries 
have  won — seem  often  to  be  solely  a  hin 
drance  in  the  field  of  missionary  action. 
Body  and  mind,  and  not  soul  only,  demand 
in  fact  a  minimum  which,  as  the  missionary 
almost  in  despair  observes,  seems  to  place 
him  in  a  different  class  from  the  people 
with  whom  he  longs  to  show  his  unity  in 
the  Christ.  What  chance  then  has  Chris 
tianity  against  those  whose  religion  brings 
a  culture  that  is  the  simplest  and  most 
superficial  thing  imaginable,  so  that  it 


A 


THE    MAHDI  S    TOMB,    OMDURMAN 


THE    GATE    OF    THE    SUDAN/'    POUT    SUDAN 


How  Save  It  ?  321 

seems  to  the  savage  just  so  superior  that 
it  must  be  coveted,  and  not  so  superior 
that  it  must  be  despaired  of  ?  Does  even 
the  effect  produced  by  the  self -empty 
ing  of  the  Christian  after  the  fashion  of 
his  Lord,  counteract  these  things  ?  Can 
that  renunciation  ever  be  complete  enough 
to  be  so  much  as  noticed  by  the  very  people 
whose  attention  it  is  supposed  to  arrest  ? 

Enough — yet  there  is  more.  For  at  the  (e)  Barrier  of 
heels  of  this  simplification  of  the  culture- race> 
problem  comes  a  weightier  matter  still,  a 
more  grievous  handicap  than  any  yet  men 
tioned — the  simplicity  of  the  race  problem 
for  Islam ;  its  complexity  for  Christendom. 
It  is  not  mere  pride  and  prejudice  that  have 
forbidden  the  mixing  of  white  with  black  or 
brown  or  yellow.  It  is  gravely  to  be  con 
sidered  whether  nature  herself — and  God 
is  behind  nature — has  in  the  past  blessed 
the  banns  in  such  mixtures,  or  will  do  so 
in  the  future.  Is  this  a  small  matter  in 
relation  to  the  subject  of  our  enquiry  ? 
Consider !  Why  is  it  that  the  Moslem 
occupation  of  a  country  has  always  meant  ite 

the  gradual  and  unimpeded  Islamising  of 
its  people,  whereas  the  occupation  of  an 
African  or  Asiatic  country  by  a  Christian 


322      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

European   nation,    so   far   from   having   a 
corresponding   effect,    seems    to   have   the 
very  reverse?      We  hear  it   wondered  at 
that  '  even '  the  prestige  of  the  conquerors 
is  insufficient  to  recommend  their  religion. 
14  Even  !  "     It  is  that  very  prestige  that 
damns  it,  because  those  conquerors  are  con 
querors   who  will  not  mix  with  their  con 
quered.      There  is  no  mingling  of  families, 
there  are   separate  castes.      And  separate 
castes  have  separate  gods.     A  father  can 
with  ease  impose  his  religion  on  his  family 
throughout  the  East,  but  those  who  remain 
outside  the  family  life  (which  is  the  social 
life)  of  the  people  they  rule,  will  be  indeed 
outsiders,  and  their  religion  will  be  indeed 
foreign.     And  how  deep  is  the  loathing  of 
a  nation  for   a  foreign  religion :   it  is  the 
religion    of    their    eternally    foreign    con 
querors  !     Here  too,  then,  Christianity  has 
all   the  handicap  against  it,  for  this   very 
thing  is    Islam's    strength.      No   law  has 
seemed    to   forbid   the    mingling    of   Arab 
and  other  Moslem  races  with  whatsoever 
nations     they     settled     amongst.      Syria, 
Persia,  Egypt,  North  Africa,  Negro  Africa, 
Mongol    Asia,    India,    Malaysia,     all    tell 
the   same  tale  : — the  Moslem  host  enters ; 


How  Save  It  ?  323 

the  conquest  is  made ;  the  conquerors 
assume  all  the  posts  of  government,  and 
fill  their  harems  with  the  women  of  the 
land.  (A  Moslem  may  marry  an  "  unbe 
lieving  woman,"  but  not  vice  versa. 
Notice  the  deep  world- wisdom  of  this  rule.) 
In  one  generation,  under  these  circumstances 
the  sore  of  conquest  has  probably  been 
forgotten,  and  once  "  thy  people  are  my 
people  "  is  realised,  "  thy  God  is  my  God  " 
follows.  Thus  was  it  when  the  first  Moslems 
conquered  Persia,  Syria,  and  Egypt ;  thus 
was  it  when  Moguls  conquered  India ;  and 
Fulahs  the  Sudan.  Thus  is  it  not  with 
Christians.  Consequently  the  religion  of 
Moslems  spreads  like  a  natural  product, 
and  with  the  greatest  celerity,  while  the 
religion  of  the  Christians  has  against  it, 
and  most  of  all  in  the  lands  where  Christians 
rule,  the  whole  force  of  that  hatred  which 
is  entertained  by  those  who  feel  the  stigma 
of  inferiority  to  be  hourly  obtruded  through 
the  conqueror's  veto  against  intermarriage 
with  their  race. 

And  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  Chris-  Barrier  of  state 
tianity,  the  more   it  realises  the  meaning n( 
and  the  character  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ, 
becomes  the  more  scrupulous  in  disclaiming 


324      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  interest  and  the   aid  of  the  state,  as 
such,  in  prosecuting  the  work  of  her  King. 
No  doubt  it  was  not  always  so.     But  now 
in  propaganda  in  Moslem  or  heathen  lands, 
Christians  often  have   the  rulers  of  their 
own    creed    against    them,    or    in    armed 
neutrality ;    only   rarely   in   anything   like 
earnest  sympathy.    How  shall  so  scrupulous 
a  religion  contest  for  the  world  with  Islam, 
which    identifies    religion   and    state-craft 
in  a  theocracy  where   all  law  is  religious 
law  ?      Even   in  these  days   the  iniquities 
of   slave-raids,    slave- captures,   and    slave- 
concubinage    are — and    the    writer   thinks 
perfectly  soundly — justified   by  their  per 
petrators  by  the   9th  Sura  of  the  Koran. 
Christianity  has  abjured   the   methods   of 
physical    conquest,     and     encourages    the 
rulers  of  state  neither  to  make  difference 
between  man  and  man,  nor  to  discriminate 
against   anyone  for  changing  his  religious 
faith.     When  supreme  in  any  realm,  Islam 
has  at  its   disposal,  and   without   scruple 
uses,  the  whole  machinery  of  the  state,  by 
rewarding  those  who  profess  it  or  turn  to 
it,  and  by  loading  with  an  hourly  sense  of 
inferiority  and  contempt  those  who  refuse 
to   conform   to    it.      It   makes   death   the 


How  Save  It  ?  325 

portion  of  the  man  who  abandons  it,  and 
the  portion  of  the  woman  imprisonment 
till  she  recant,  or  till  death  steps  in  to  end 
her  misery.  Such  is  Islamic  canon  law 
to-day,  and  it  should  be  distinctly  under 
stood  that  every  inroad  made  by  civil  law 
into  canon  law  is  made  in  Islam's  despite. 
Whether  canon  law  can,  or  cannot,  be 
enforced,  such  is  the  spirit  of  Islam,  the 
spirit  that  animates  all  Mohammedans 
against  those  who  preach  in  their  midst 
another  religion  than  their  own. 

Were  ever  souls  in  this  humour  wooed  ?  Summary  of 
Were  ever  souls  in  this  humour  won  ? c< 
Were  ever  such  odds  as  these  ?  How 
colossal  seems  the  sheer  mass,  how  ir 
resistible  the  momentum,  of  this  awful 
league  of  nature,  the  world,  and  the  flesh  ! 
What  avails  spirit  against  such  forces  as 
these  ?  Why  must  we  for  ever  renounce 
all  the  favourable  conditions,  giving,  like 
the  Scottish  King  at  Flodden,  all  the  advan 
tages  to  the  opponent  ?  Why  must  we  strive 
always  up  the  hill  with  the  sun  for  ever  in 
our  eyes,  the  wind  and  rain  for  ever  driving 
in  our  faces  ?  Ever,  ever  conceding,  never, 
never  taking,  the  handicap  and  the  odds  ? 


326      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


Forces  of  the          So,  in  effect,  argued  the  ten.     But  the 

Church:— the  .    ,  11          .1  p          j 

Spirit  of  Christ,  wisdom,  as  well  as  the  courage,  was  lound 
with  the  two,  with  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun, 
and  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh.  If 
Islam's  forces  are  indeed  nature,  the  world, 
and  the  flesh,  then  Islam  has  left  to  us  one 
weapon,  in  taking  away  all  the  others- 
it  has  abandoned  to  us  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  The  two  considered  that  as  enough. 
6  Their  defence  is  removed  from  over  them, 
and  the  Lord  is  with  us  :  fear  them  not." 
The  Spirit  of  Jesus  is  the  only  asset  of  the 
Church. 

Thus  we  say  in  faith,  Nil  desperandum 
Christo  duce.  And,  turning  to  the  work 
itself,  we  encounter  many  facts  that  bear 
out  this  supreme  encouragement  of  the 
invincibility  of  the  Christ. 

(a)  Open  doors.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Moham 
medan  world  is  perfectly  open  to  missionary 
work.  Practically  the  whole  of  Asiatic 
Islam,  except  parts  of  Afganhistan  and  of 
the  peninsula  of  Arabia,  receives,  or  would 
receive,  the  messengers  of  Christ's  Gospel : 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  African 
Islam,  with  the  exception  of  a  part 


How  Save  It?  327 

of  the  Sudan.  And  these  exceptions- 
how  soon  may  they  not  cease  to  be  except- 
tions  ?  At  any  moment  a  turn  in  the 
political  wheel,  some  daring  and  original 
individual  exploit,  may  open  up  these 
countries  also.  But  is  the  Church  proving 
her  willingness  and  ability  to  enter  even 
the  doors  that  are  open  to-day  ? 

Again,  most  of  the  important  strategic 
centres  are  occupied  by  at  least  some 
representatives  of  the  Gospel.  Mecca 
and  Timbuktu  on  the  Niger  are  perhaps 
the  most  important  exceptions,  but  is  it 
not  wonderful  to  think  that  such  great 
spiritual  or  social  centres  as  Constantinople, 
Damascus,  Beyrout,  Jerusalem,  Cairo,  Zan 
zibar,  Baghdad,  Ispahan,  Bokhara,  Lahore, 
Delhi  and  other  great  Indian  Moslem 
centres,  are  also  centres  of  work  carried  on 
in  the  name  of  Christ.1  Every  one  of  these 
centres  needs  strengthening  to  an  indefinite 
extent ;  but  the  fact  remains,  they  are 
occupied. 

Again,  the  language  problem  is  not  so  (b)  Language 
insuperable  a  one  as  some  other  missionary 
language  problems.     The  languages  spoken 
by   Moslems    are   relatively   few,    and   the 

1  Gf.  Zwemer's  "  Islam/'  p.  215. 


328      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Bible  has  been  translated,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  into  nearly  all  of  them.  "  The  Beyrout 
press  alone  has  issued  over  a  million  volumes 
of  the  Arabic  Scriptures  since  it  was 
founded ;  the  demand  for  the  Bible  in 
Persia,  Arabia,  Egypt,  and  the  Turkish  Em 
pire  is  phenomenal."  The  Arabic  tongue, 
itself  spoken  by  over  45,000,000  Moham 
medans  is  read  by  many  more  ;  and  if  the 
Mohammedan  revival  results  in  increased 
study  of  Arabic  all  over  the  Moslem  world, 
that  will  only  give  increased  prestige  and 
opportunities  of  circulation  to  the  Bible 
itself,  and  to  other  Christian  books,  in 
Arabic.  Well  might  D.  M.  Thornton  be 
an  enthusiast  for  harnessing  the  Arabic 
tongue,  "  turning  that  own  weapon  of  Islam 
against  Islam's  own  bosom."  Dr  Zwemer 
tables  twenty  main  Moslem  languages,  or 
twenty-eight,  counting  dialects,  into  which 
the  Bible  has  been  already  translated  in 
whole  or  in  part.  The  Koran  on  the  con 
trary  is  rarely  translated ;  and  when  it  is,  it 
sometimes  merely  loses  its  prestige  in  the 
process.  We  have  seen,  too,  how  a  grow 
ing  body  of  literature,  in  the  tongues  most 
spoken  by  Moslems,  is  gradually  getting 
into  their  hands  in  all  parts  of  the  House 


MATRICULATION    CLASS,    BANNU    HIGH    SCHOOL 


GROUP    OF    CHRISTIAN    WORKERS    IN    BAGHDAD 


How  Save  It  ?  329 

of  Islam.  The  seed  is  indeed  being  sown ; 
who  knows  what  is  germinating  silently 
underground  ? 

Add  to  this  the  hundreds  of  thousands  (c)  Numbers 
of  Moslem  hearts,  which  are  touched  and  reached6" 
disarmed  every  year  by  the  ministries  of 
Christian  hearts  and  Christian  hands  in 
school,  hospital,  and  dispensary  all  over  the 
House  of  Islam ;  and  the  many  who  in  book- 
depot,  or  bazaar,  or  preaching-room  listen 
quietly  to  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  quite 
apart  from  such  ministries  of  teaching 
or  of  healing.  What  might  it  not  be  if 
a  new  anointing  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
were  given  to-day,  like  that  of  Pentecost, 
to  all  these  minis tr ants,  giving  to  their 
every  word  and  action  a  grace  that  were 
itself  an  argument  not  to  be  resisted  or 
gainsaid  ?  Why  should  we  not  expect, 
in  answer  to  our  prayers,  the  anointing  of 
Mohammedan  converts  with  the  fulness  of 
that  Spirit,  to  be  as  prophets  to  their  own 
people  ?  Dr  Pennell  says,  after  speaking 
of  an  Afghan  Moslem  convert,  Abdul 
Karim,  martyred  because  he  would  not 
deny  Christ,  that  a  public  acknowledg 
ment  of  Christianity  in  Afghanistan  would 
mean  death,  and  probably  a  cruel  death. 


330      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

"  At  the  same  time  I  believe  that  the  Church 
in  Afghanistan  will  not  be  established  till 
there  have  been  many  such  martyrs,  who 
will  seal  their  faith  with  their  blood.  When 
the  news  of  the  death  of  Abdul  Karim 
reached  Bannu,  more  than  one  of  our  Afghan 
Christians  offered  to  go  over  into  Afghanistan 
and  take  his  place,  as  herald  of  the  Cross, 
and  bear  the  consequences,  but  I  pointed 
out  to  them  that  the  time  was  not  yet." 
Is  the  time  perhaps  near  at  hand  ?  More 
and  more  prayer  is  needed  for  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  on  all  converts  from  Islam 
that  they  may  be  used  of  God  as  apostles 
for  the  evangelisation  of  their  own  kindred 
and  their  own  people. 

(d)  Moslem  And  then  we   have  the  actual  results  ; 

converts.  those  thousands  in  Malaysia  and  India ; 

those  groups  wherever  honest  and  courage 
ous  work  has  been  done.  Is  not  the  earnest 
sufficient  ?  Does  it  not  sufficiently  shatter 
the  continual  contention  that  "  to  convert 
a  Mohammedan  is  impossible  ?  ''  We  have, 
too,  on  every  side  the  testimony  to  their 
quality  when  won — what  brighter  stars  have 
there  been  among  Oriental  converts  than 
the  old  man,1  Imad-ed-Din  of  India,  the 

1  Cf.  "A  Mohammedan  brought  to  Christ/'  C.M.8. 


How  Save  It?  331 

young  man,1  Kamil  Abd-el-Masih  of  Syria  ? 
What  was  possible  in  the  past,  is  possible 
in  the  future — nay,  on  a  greater  and  con 
tinually  increasing  scale — not  only  possible, 
but  certain,  if  only  the  Church  is  worthy  of 
her  calling  and  her  Lord. 

For  verily  great  names  have  led  the  (e)  Heroes  of 
way  to  the  saving  of  Islam,  men  of.  faith 
who  even  at  times  when  all,  all  was 
against  them,  looked  neither  to  the  left 
nor  to  the  right,  but  went  straight  for 
ward  ;  for  they  endured,  as  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible.  Francis  of  Assisi, 
Raymund  Lull,  Francis  Xavier,  Henry 
Martyn,  Karl  Pfander,  Valpy  French,  Ian 
Keith-Falconer,  Peter  Zwemer,  Douglas 
Thornton — these  are  names  of  right  noble 
men  who  have  passed  to  their  everlasting 
reward — these,  with  many  a  living  name 
that  might  be  added  to  theirs,  challenge  us 
to  accomplish  even  more  than  they  accom 
plished,  by  just  as  much  as  our  opportunities 
and  means  are  greater  than  theirs,  while  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  was  not  more  theirs  than 
ours.  And,  indeed,  it  does  correct  and 
dispel  the  blank  misgiving  which  besets 

1  Sketches  of  Indian  Christians.     Christian  Literature 
Society  of  India. 


332      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

us  when  we  see  what  remains  to  be  ac 
complished,  and  the  mountainous  obstacles 
in  the  way,  to  look  back  only  a  hundred 
years  and  see  the  marvellous  progress  that 
has  been  made.  We  climb  the  mountain 
side  with  painful  steps  and  slow,  the  sum 
mit  seems  so  far ; — it  is  not  until  we  look 
back  and  down  that  we  see  how  much  has 
been  accomplished. 

"  Say  not  the  struggle  nought  availeth 
The  labour  and  the  wounds  are  vain. 
The  enemy  faints  not,  nor  faileth, 
And  as  things  have  been  they  remain. 

If  hopes  were  dupes,  fears  may  be  liars  ; 
It  may  be,  in  yon  smoke  concealed, 
Your  comrades  chase  e'en  now  the  fliers, 
And,  but  for  you,  possess  the  field. 

For  while  the  tired  waves,  vainly  breaking, 
Seem  here  no  painful  inch  to  gain, 
Far  back,  through  creeks  and  inlets  making, 
Comes  silent,  flooding  in,  the  main. 

And  not  by  eastern  windows  only, 
When  daylight  comes,  comes  in  the  light, 
In  front,  the  sun  climbs  slow,  how  slowly, 
But  westward,  look,  the  land  is  bright." 

Conclusion.  What  then  will  it  not  be  when  the  Church 

as  a  whole  has  realised  that  she  exists  to 


How  Save  It?  333 

evangelise  the  world  ?  When  by  God's 
voice  in  sermon,  address,  organisation, 
missionary  study  in  church  and  college, 
the  whole  Church  realises  that  every  true 
member  is  responsible  for  world  evangelisa 
tion,  and  that  every  Christian  who  goes 
abroad  in  any  capacity  is  a  foreign  mission 
ary  ?  When  the  hint  given  us  by  Islam 
is  spiritually  fulfilled,  and  Church  members, 
whether  they  be  administrators,  or  soldiers, 
or  merchants,  or  mechanics,  or  clerks,  are 
"  dismissed  "  to  their  spheres  of  work  to 
make  them  into  spheres  of  service,  places 
where,  directly  or  indirectly,  they  will 
do  all  they  can,  be  it  little  or  be  it  much, 
to  forward  the  conscious  end,  shared  by 
them  with  the  whole  Church,  of  "  mak 
ing  Jesus  King " 1  over  all,  and  though 
"  Islam  defies  your  King," 2  King  over 
Islam. 

Yet  more,  Look  Upward. 

For  in  the  long  last,  the  Spirit  is  mightier 
than  the  flesh,  as  God  is  mightier  than  man. 
The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected  shall 

1  Motto  cabled  to  S.V.M.U.  Conference  at  Liverpool, 
189G,    by   the    Scandinavian    Student    Christian    Move 
ment. 

2  Motto    cabled   by  Cairo   Student  Volunteers  to  the 
London  Conference,  1900. 


334      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

become  the  head-stone  of  the  corner.  The 
Spirit  of  Jesus  has  been  deliberately  left 
by  Islam  to  the  Church,  and  so  even  He 
whom  the  warriors  have  rejected  shall  be 
the  chosen  Leader  and  Power  of  that  Church. 
There  is  no  other.  Yet  do  we  know 
what  we  ask  ?  It  means  that  we  are 
claiming  a  right  to  have  it  said  to  us,  "  Ye 
are  they  which  have  continued  with  me 
in  my  temptations  "  /  For  verily  the  bare 
contemplation  of  this  problem  of  Islam 
is,  until  death  relieves  our  watch,  an 
abiding  on  the  mountain-top  of  Temptation 
with  the  Lord.  Even  while  we  read  the 
first  half  of  this  chapter,  were  we  not  in 
spirit  there  ?  Nay,  is  there  on  earth  any 
thing  which  so  nearly  as  the  contemplation 
of  the  problem  and  reproach  of  Islam  re 
produces  for  us  the  situation  that  faced  the 
Redeemer  on  that  Mount  ?  He,  too,  was 
shown  a  whole  world  of  men  in  a  moment 
of  time,  as  we  have  been  shown :  He,  too, 
saw  with  piercing  clearness,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  monstrous  dead-weight  of  the 
natural  forces  of  world  and  flesh  which  by 
mere  vis  inertice  or  sheer  power  threatened 
to  overwhelm  His  whole  work  :  He,  too, 
knew  what  it  was  to  feel  that  these  advan- 


How  Save  It?  335 

tages  must  be  ever  conceded,  never  claimed 
—even  when,  cruelly  tantalizing,  they  were 
lying  ready  to  hand  :  He,  too,  knew 
what  it  was  to  fall  back  on  the  Spirit, 
to  realise  and  to  confess  that  only  by 
what  seemed  like  Weakness  must  all  that 
strength  be  met,  only  by  the  foolishness  of 
the  Message,  only  by  the  scandal  of  the 
Cross  :  He  knew  what  it  cost  to  confess 
deliberately  that  "  The  weakness  of  God  is 
stronger  than  men,"  and  "  The  foolishness 
of  God  is  wiser  than  men."  He  knew  all 
this  :  He  made  the  choice :  He  chose 
Spirit-power,  and  rejected  all  else.  By 
that  He  chose  to  save  the  world  with  all  its 
forces,  cost  what  it  might. 

So,  then,  Islam  is  the  greatest  call  the 
Church  ever  has  had,  or  will  have,  to 
look  to  Him  who  is  invisible — to  come  to  an 
understanding  and  realisation  of  the  mean 
ing  of  CHRIST.  In  a  score  of  ways,  the 
reproach  of  Islam  that  lies  upon  us  day  by 
day,  calls  us  back  to  explore  His  forgotten 
secrets,  and  to  realise  what  He  in  Him 
self  is.  Most  of  all  it  calls  us  to  a  closer 
association  with  Christ  Himself — to  that 
continuance  with  Him  in  His  temptations, 
—to  learn  what  is  the  Kingdom  of  God, 


336      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Who  is  the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  If  this  be  so,  is 
Islam  itself  too  great  a  price  to  have  had 
to  pay  for  the  lesson  ?  And  if  the  Church 
is  brought  truly  to  learn  this  lesson,  she  will 
face  the  reproach  of  Islam,  with  shame  and 
sorrow  indeed,  but  without  dismay,  for  she 
will,  in  so  learning,  learn  also  the  secret  of 
Christ's  Victory,  and  will  prove  in  herself 
the  power  of  His  Risen  Life.  When  the 
SPIRIT  OF  JESUS  is  set  free  to  work,  the 
issue  is  assured. 

And  so  we  come  back  in  thought  to  that 
Church  Mosque  at  Damascus,  from  which 
we  took  our  start,  and  read  again  that  in 
scription  which  is  both  instruction  and 
pledge  : 

"THY    KINGDOM,    O    CHRIST,  IS    A    KING 
DOM   OF  ALL  AGES." 

It  is  a  prophecy  that  was  unconsciously 
endorsed  by  that  old  Sheikh  of  the  College 
Mosque  of  Bokhara  who  said  to  one  who 
had  caused  him  to  read  the  Book  of  the 
Christians  :— 

"  I  am  convinced  that  Jesus  Christ  will  conquer 
Mohammed.  There  is  110  doubt  about  it,  because 
Christ  is  King  in  Heaven  and  on  the  earth,  and 


MOSQUE    OF    KAID,    CAIRO 


How  Save  It?  337 

His   Kingdom   fills   Heaven  and  will   soon  fill  the 
earth." 

So  be  it. 


And  now  let  us  go  hence. 

PRAYER  FOR  MOSLEMS 
Almighty  God,  Who  didst  rebuke  the 
sins  of  Christians  of  old  by  delivering  the 
lands  of  the  East  into  the  hand  of  a  strange 
people  ;  have  mercy  on  all  unbelievers,  and 
let  the  day  of  Thy  power  come  speedily, 
when  the  hearts  which  now  seem  most 
obstinate  in  error  shall  be  subdued  to  the 
Gospel  of  Christ. 

Send  forth  Thy  Spirit,  and  raise  up  Thy 
Church  in  every  country  where  it  lies 
prostrate  in  weakness,  and  restore  again 
the  golden  candlestick  which  Thou  hast 
removed,  and  cause  it  to  burn  before  Thy 
Presence  with  so  pure  a  light  as  may  cover 
the  lands  which  were  Thy  heritage  of  old, 
and  may  penetrate  everywhere  among  the 
people  who  now  sit  in  the  dark  shadow 
of  Islam. 

Hear  us,  0  Father,  and  glorify   among 

M 


338      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

the  Moslems  the  Name  of  Thy  Only-be 
gotten  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  to  Whom  with 
Thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  ascribed  all 
honour  and  glory.  AMEN. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  CHAPTER  VIII 

1.  Enumerate   the   methods   of  propaganda  that 
can  be  used  by  Islam. 

2.  Which  of  these  methods  should  be  rejected  by 
Christianity,  and  why  ? 

3.  What  sins  led  to  the   failure   of   Christianity 
before  Mohammedanism  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries?     How  far  are   they  responsible  for  the 
present  position  in  the  twentieth  century  ? 

4.  To   what    forces    did    our    Lord    look  for  the 
evangelisation    of  the    world    at    the    time    of  the 
Ascension.     How  far  is  the  Church  relying  solely  on 
these  same  forces  ? 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  SOME    IMPORTANT 

EVENTS  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  ISLAM,  AND 

OF  MISSIONS  TO  MOSLEMS 


ISLAM 

A.D. 

570  Birth  of  Mohammed 

610  Mohammed's  first  "  Revelation  " 

622  The  "  Higra  "  or  flight  to  Medina 

630  Capture  of  Mecca 

632  Death  of  Mohammed  Abu  Bakr, 

Caliph 

634-37  Conquest  of  Syria 
63542  Conquest  of  Persia 
640  f.     Conquest  of  Egypt 
651-750  Omayyad  Caliphs  at  Damascus 
711  Mohammedan  rule  in  Spain 
732  Battle    of  Tours— Europe  saved 

from  Islam 

8th  cent.  Moslems  spread  in  Central  Asia 
and  China 

749-1258  Abbaside  Caliphs'  rule  (Baghdad) 

1019  Mahmud  Ghazni  enters  India 
1055-1300  Rule  of  Seljook  Turks 
llth   cent,    onwards.    Islam     spreads    in 

Western  Sudan 
Early  13th  cent.    Mongols  under  Jenghiz 

Khan  overrun  Central  Asia 
1299  to  present  time.    Turkish  or  Ottoman 

dynasty 
1369-1405  Timerlane,   Mogul   conqueror   in 

India 

1453  Fall  of  Constantinople  to  Turks 
1492  Mohammedan  rule  in  Spain  ends 

—Fall  of  Granada 
1507  ff.  Islam  spreads  in  East — Borneo, 

New  Guinea,  Celebes,  India 
1527-1707  Mogul  Empire  in  India 

1683  Turks  defeated  before  Vienna 
1691  Birth      of      Mohammed     Abdul 
Wahhab 

1757  Battle  of  Plassey— British  Empire 

in  India 
1750  ff.  Spread  of  Islam  in  Negro  Africa 

under  Fulahs 

1839  Aden  taken  by  British 
1878  Treaty  of  Berlin 
1881  Rise  of  Mahcli  (Khartum) 


1882  British  occupy  Egypt 
i — F 


'all  of  Khar- 


1885  Death  of  Gordon 

turn 
1898  Fall   of    Mahdi-British 

Sudan 
1900  British  protectorate  over  Nigeria 

and  Hausa-land 


occupy 


MISSIONS 


c.  754  Death  of  John  Damascene 
c.  830  Apology  of  Al  Kindi 

(1096-1272  The  Crusades) 

c.  1157  Death  of  Petrus  Venerabilis, 

Abbot  9f  Clugny 
1220  St  Francis  visits  Syria 
1235-1315  Raymund  Lull 


1552  Death  of  Francis  Xavier 


1781-1812  Henry  Martyn 

1820  American     Missionaries     at 

Smyrna 
1825-65  Pfander  at  work 

1880  Founding    of   North    Africa 

Mission 
1885  Death  of  Keith-Falconer 

1891  Death  of  Bishop  French 


340      The  Reproach  of  Islam 
APPENDIX  A 

MOHAMMEDAN  STATISTICS 

To  obtain  an  accurate  account  of  the  total  number 
of  Mohammedans  throughout  the  world  is  impossible. 
No  regular  census  of  the  population  has  been  taken 
in  many  countries  in  which  Mohammedanism  pre 
vails,  and,  the  available  statistics  for  many  other 
countries  are  now  considerably  out  of  date.  Especially 
is  there  uncertainty  with  regard  to  the  numbers 
in  the  Sudan  and  in  China.  Careful  estimates  have, 
however,  been  made,  and  these  point  clearly  to  the 
fact  that  there  must  be  at  the  present  day  from  200 
to  250  millions  of  Mohammedans.  In  the  report 
of  the  Cairo  Conference  ("  Mohammedan  World  of 
To-day")  the  total  estimate  is  given  as  2.32  millions, 
and  in  Jansen's  "  Verbreitung  das  Islams "  a  very 
carefully  detailed  estimate  brings  the  number  (A.D. 
1897)  up  to  259  millions.  Other  statistics  more  or 
less  agree,  so  that,  speaking  generally,  we  may  say 
that  Mohammedanism  is  the  religion  of  one-seventh 
of  the  entire  human  race. 

The  following  appendix  (B)  makes  use  of  the 
statistics  in  the  report  of  the  Cairo  Conference,  in 
Jansen,  and  in  the  Statesman's  Year  Book.  Special 
mention  should  be  made,  however,  of  the  statistics 
relating  to  Europe  and  Africa.  The  usual  estimate 
for  Europe,  excluding  Russia,  is  upwards  of  3 
millions,  but  Jansen,  including  Russia  and  estimating 
the  numbers  of  Mohammedans  in  European  countries 
other  than  in  the  Balkan  peninsula,  gives  the  number 
as  high  as  11  millions.  The  estimate  given  for 
Africa,  following  the  report  of  the  Cairo  Conference, 
is  probably  a  low  one.  Jansen,  estimating  for  the 
year  1897  gives  the  number  as  76  millions. 


Appendices 


APPENDIX  B 

TOTAL  MOHAMMEDAN  POPULATION  OF  THE 
WORLD 


EUROPE1 — 

Turkey  in  Europe    . 
Balkan  States  . 

Total  for  S.E.  Europe 


Total  Pop. 

6,130,200 
23,949,611 


Moh.  Pop. 

2,050,000 
1,360,402 


30,079,811  3,410,402 


TURKEY  IN  ASIA — 

Asia  Minor 
Syria        ...         . 
Armenia  . 
Mesopotamia    . 

Total  for  Turkey  in  Asia 


9,089,200  7,179,900 

3,675,200  1,053,100 

3,470,900  1,795,800 

1,398,200  1,200,000 

16,633,500  11,228,800 


Arabia2—          . 

Persia 

Afghanistan  and  Beluchistan 

India        .         .        ..  • 

Ceylon     ... 

Russian  Empire  (including 

West  Turkestan) 
Bokhara  and  Khiva 
China     (including-      East 

Turkestan) 
Malaysia 


6,262,079 
9,500,000 
4,500,000 
294,361,056 
3,578,833 

149,299,300 
2,050,009 

433,553,030 
44,627,587 


6,253,193 

8,880,000 

3,982,448 

62,458,077 

248,040 

13,906,972 
2,000,000 


20,000,000 
31,042,144 


1  For  Russia  see  figures  under  Russian  Empire. 

2  Figures  for  Arabia  are  taken  from  Jansen. 


342      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

AFRICA — 

(a)  Countries  N.  of  20°  N. 

Lat.  Egypt         .         .  9,734,405  8,977,702 

Other  countries        .         .  14,069,557         12,752,080 


23,803,962          21,729,782 

(b)  Countries  between  20° 

N.  Lat.  and  Equator  .  78,169,876         33,060,024 

(c)  Countries      between 

Equator  and  20°  S.  Lat.         52,276,481  3,840,000 

(d)  Countries  S.  of  20°  S. 

Lat.— 9,  All  Islands  .  9,486,364  233,708 


Total  for  Africa        .         .         163,736,683         58,863,514 


Australia  19,446 

America  49,563 


69,009 


TOTAL  FOR  MOHAMMEDAN  WORLD    222,342,599 

Total  in  Europe  (except  Russia)  about    3J  millions. 
Total  in  Asia  „      160         „ 

Total  in  Africa  59 


Appendices  343 


APPENDIX    C 

POLITICAL  SURVEY   OF  THE    MOSLEM  WORLD 
I.  —  Under  Christian  Rule  or  Protection. 

Great       /  in  Africa,  17,920,330  \ 

Britain  \  in  Asia,      63,033,783  J  °1>oo*»11 

( in  Africa,  27,849,580  \ 

France     {in  Asia,       lXa38J  29'304>81» 

Germany,  in  Africa,     .         .         .  2,572,500 
Italy,   Portugal,    and    Spain,    in 

Africa,           .         .         .         .  722,177 

United  States,  in  Asia,          .         .  300,000 

Netherlands,  in  Asia,            .         .  29,289,440 

Russia,  in  Europe  and  Asia,          .  15,889,420 
Greece     and     other     States,     in 

Europe,         ....  1,360,402 

Australasia  and  America      .          .  68,000 


Total  under  Christian  Rule,       .         .     161,060,870 


II.  —  Under  Non-Christian  Rulers  other  than  Moslem. 

Africa, 2,950,000 

Chinese  Empire,          .         .         .  20,000,000 

Siam, 1,000,000 

Formosa,     .'....  25,500 


Total  under  Non-Christian  Rulers,    .       23,976,500 


344      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


111.— Under  Turkish  Rule. 

Europe,,  .  .  .  .  .  2,050,000 
Africa,  .  ...  .-.  .  1,250,000 
Asia,  .  .  12,228,800 

Total  under  Turkish  Rule,        .         .       15,528,800 


IV. — Under  Other  Moslem  Rulers. 

Morocco,      .         .         .  .  .  5,600,000 

Oman  and  Nejd,  &c.,  .  .  3,500,000 

Afghanistan,        .          .  4,500,000 

Persia,         .      ,   .         .  .  .  8,800,000 

Total  under  Other  Moslem  Rulers,  .       22,400,000 


NOTE. — The  above  figures  have  been  copied  from  the 
report  of  the  Cairo  Conference,  with  the  exception 
that  the  estimate  of  20  millions  for  China  has  been 
adhered  to. 


Appendices  345 


APPENDIX  D 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE 
BYZANTINE  EMPIRE 

THE  Orthodox  Church  (or  as  it  was  sometimes  called, 
the  Melchite  =  Imperial  or  Royalist)  was  that  section 
of  the  Christian  Church  which  was  situated  in  the 
Eastern  Division  of  the  Roman  Empire.  It  held 
sway  in  the  south-eastern  corner  of  Europe,  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  surrounding  countries,  and  thus  occupied 
the  home  of  the  earliest  Christianity.  Gradually, 
however,  owing  to  the  growing  political  differences 
with  the  Western  Roman  Empire,  and  owing  to  the 
difference  in  the  national  temperament  between  the 
East  and  the  West,  it  became  separated  from  the 
Church  in  the  West,  and  thus  arose  the  division 
which  still  exists  at  the  present  day  between  the 
Orthodox  Church  and  the  Catholic  Church  of  Rome. 
The  Orthodox  Church  was  originally  divided  into 
four  patriarchates,  the  centres  of  which  were  Con 
stantinople,  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  and  Alexandria. 
The  language  of  this  Eastern  Church  was  Greek, 
and  the  Greek  spirit  prevailed  throughout.  As  a 
result  of  this  there  gradually  sprang  up  vital  differ 
ences  between  the  countries  which  were  essentially 
Greek  and  those  to  whom  the  Greeks  appeared  more 
or  less  as  conquerors.  In  Syria,  Egypt,  and  the 
eastern  parts  of  Asia  Minor  there  was  a  growing 
antipathy  to  the  predominance  of  the  Greek  people, 
a  feeling  which  was  felt  all  the  stronger  after 
political  power  disappeared  from  the  Western 
Roman  Empire,  and  Constantinople,  as  a  result, 
became  the  centre  power  in  the  East.  To  these 
national  differences  was  added  the  divergence  of 
views  in  religious  beliefs  and  in  opinions  regarding 
M* 


346      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

ecclesiastical  authority.  Thus  arose  those  contro 
versies  which  led  to  the  existence  of  various  sects 
of  Christianity  and  made  easier  the  victory  of  Islam 
in  those  lands  which  gave  birth  to  Christianity. 

In  the  patriarchate  of  Antioch  there  arose  the 
heresy  of  Nestorius  which  spread  throughout  the 
extreme  east  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  and  ulti 
mately  prevailed  in  Persia  the  home  of  the  Chaldean 
Church.  The  Nestorians  extended  Christianity  far 
into  Central  Asia,  to  India  and  even  to  China.  In 
Syria  arose  the  Jacobites  representing  a  Church 
which  was  essentially  national  in  spirit.  It  broke 
away  from  the  Orthodox  Church  after  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon  A.D.  451.  At  the  present  day  the 
Church  still  exists  in  the  hands  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates.  Closely  related  in  doctrine  to  the 
Jacobites  was  the  Coptic  Church  which  in  the  same 
way  represented  the  rise  of  a  national  Church  in 
Egypt.  As  is  mentioned  elsewhere  (p.  11),  they 
still  form  an  organised  Church  in  Egypt,  with  their 
Patriarch  at  Cairo.  An  off-shoot  of  the  Coptic  Church 
is  seen  in  the  Ethiopian  Church  of  Abyssinia. 

In  Armenia,  where  Christianity  was  introduced 
by  Gregory,  religion  was  from  the  beginning  closely 
bound  up  with  the  national  history  of  the  people. 
In  the  same  way,  therefore,  as  in  these  other 
countries,  the  Church  in  Armenia  broke  away  from 
the  Orthodox  Church,  and  adopted  that  interpreta 
tion  of  the  Incarnation  known  as  FAitychidnism }  from 
the  name  of  its  first  promulgator. 


Appendices  347 

APPENDIX   E 

SERMON  OF  KUSS  IBN  SAADA  (see  p.  43) 

"  ()  YE  people,  draw  near,  and  hear,  and  fear  ! 

Who  lived,  is  dead  ; 

Who  died,  hath  fled  ; 

What  shall  be,  shall  be  sped. 

Whereof  to  us  are  read 

Signs  not  to  be  gainsaid, 

Rain  shed,  plants  fed, 

Male  and  female  wed, 

Time  flying  and  time  fled  ; 

Stars  that  set  and  rise, 

Sea  that  never  dries, 

Roofed  above,  the  skies, 

Earth  'below  that  lies, 

Evening  and  dark  night,1 

The  Twelve  Signs  of  light 

'How  do  I  see  men  die,  and  fly, 

And. never  come  again  eternally  ! 

Tarry  they  there  for  love  of  their  asile 

For  that  there  they  lie  in  durance  vile  ? 

O  mortals,  say, 

Where  are  the  tribes  to-day 

That  once  did  disobey? 

Fathers  and  fathers'  fathers,  where  are  they  ? 

Ingrates  !  for  good  received  no  thanks  to  pay  ; 

Oppressors  !   neither  turned  they  from  their  evil 

way!" 

Moreover  Kuss  sware  by  Allah,  saying:  "  Verily, 
Allah  hath  a  religion  more  well-pleasing  to  Him  than  this 
your  religion/' 2 

1  The  Zodiac. 

2  Translated  from  the  Arabic  of  El-Jahiz  (El  Bayan,  i.  119), 
who  expressly  records  that  Mohammed  says  himself  how  vividly 
he  remembered  the  scene,  the  man,  and  the  words  of  the  sermon. 
The  subject  matter,  style  (rhymed  prose),  tropes,  and  whole  effect 
of  the  latter  recall  the  Koranic  Suras  of  the  first  period,  and  (if 
the  sermon  is  genuine)  must  have  surely  suggested  them. 


348      The  Reproach  of  Islam 
APPENDIX  F 

MOHAMMEDAN  SECTS' 

TRADITION  relates  that  Mohammed  declared  that, 
as  the  "  People  of  the  Book "  were  divided  into 
seventy-two  sects,  his  own  followers,,  who  must 
excel  them  in  everything,  would  form  seventy- 
three,  and  that  only  one  of  these  seventy-three 
would  escape  Hell-fire.  The  question  which  is  to 
escape  has  never  yet  been  authoritatively  settled. 
Moslem  authorities  say  there  are  now  one  hundred 
and  fifty  sects,  but  there  may  be  even  more.  We 
deal  with  only  the  principal  ones. 

The  Moslem  world  is  broadly  divided  into  Sunnis 
and  Shfites.  The  latter  are  found  mostly  in  Persia, 
where  theirs  is  the  established  religion.  They  are 
far  more  sub-divided  than  are  the  Sunnis.  The 
main  point  of  difference  is  that,  rejecting  the  first 
four  Khalifahs,  the  Shfah  sects  holds  that'Ali,  the 
fourth  Khalifah,  Mohammed's  son-in-law,  was  the 
"  Prophet's "  due  successor.  Hence  instead  of 
regarding  the  Khalifahs  as  "  Vicegerents  of  the 
Apostle  of  God,"  they  revere  'All's  descendants, 
who  with  himself  are  termed  "the  Twelve  Imams." 
The  two  parties  differ  also  in  the  collections  of 
Traditions  (Ahddith)  which  they  accept.  The 
Sunnis  condemn  mufah  or  temporary  marriage, 
which  their  opponents  approve  of.  The  Sunnis 
hold  that  everything  must  be  decided  by  an  appeal 
to  the  Korfin,  Tradition,  or  authoritative  deductions 
therefrom.  They  are  more  legalistic  than  the 
Shfites.  The  latter  are  more  inclined  to  admit 
ideas  from  without.  They  admit  the  need  of  an 

i  By  W.  St  Clair  Tisdall,  D.D. 


Appendices  349 

Atonement,  holding  that  Hasan  and  Husain's 
deaths  effected  that.  Incarnation  theories  have 
developed  among  not  a  few  Shi'ite  sets.  One  of 
these  worships 'Ali  as  God.  They  hold  in  general 
the  tenet  that  they  may  conceal  or  deny  their 
faith  when  life  and  property  are  otherwise  in 
danger.  Abu  Kasim,  the  twelfth  Imam,  is  said  to 
be  still  alive,  and  is  expected  to  reappear  as  the 
Imam  Mahdi. 

Of  the  Sunnis  there  are  four  "  orthodox  "  sects, 
the  Hanifis,  the  Shafi'is,  the  Malikis,  and  the 
Hanbalis,  which  are  really  schools  of  interpretation  of 
the  Law.  The  founder  of  the  Wahhabi  sect  was  a 
Hanbali.  He  endeavoured  to  reform  Islam  by 
abolishing  Saint-worship  and  restoring  it  to  its 
original  state.  This  necessitated  the  use  of  the 
sword.  The  Wahhabis  overran  Arabia,  capturing 
Mecca  and  Medina  in  1803.  Their  power  was 
broken  by  the  Turks  in  1818,  though  in  1826-31 
and  in  1863  there  were  other  revivals  of  the  sect  in 
India  and  Arabia.  They  are  not  bound  by  the  views 
of  the  "  orthodox  "  sects,  but  hold  that  each  man 
may  judge  for  himself  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
Koran  and  Tradition.  Mohammed  will  at  the  last 
day  obtain  permission  to  intercede  with  God. 
They  recite  the  99  "Excellent  Names"  without 
a  rosary. 

The  word  [darvish]  means  "  poor,"  and  the  various 
Orders  (or,  as  they  are  called,  ((  Ways  " — tariqat) 
may  be  compared  to  the  Mendicant  Friars  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  With  Mohammedanism  they  have 
intermixed  many  ideas  ultimately  borrowed  from 
India.  They  are  mystics,  who  aim  at  attaining 
some  special  degree  of  knowledge  of  the  Divine 
and  ultimate  absorption  in  God.  By  their  peculiar 
practices  they  have  obtained  popular  names,  as  the 
"Howling,"  the  "Whirling,"  the  "Dancing,"  etc., 


350      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Dervishes.  By  these  methods  they  hope  even  here 
to  attain  to  a  condition  of  ecstasy,,  and  this  is  often 
promoted  by  the  use  of  hashish  (bhang).  The  first 
of  the  ten  chief  ancient  Orders  was  founded  in  11 50 
A.D.  It  is  styled  the  Qadiriyyeh.  The  Dervishes 
who  in  the  Sudan  followed  the  Mahdi  to  the  death 
were  of  this  and  the  Khalvatiyyeh  Order.  Each 
Dervish  submits  himself  absolutely  to  the  bidding 
of  his  spiritual  "director"  (murshid)  as  strictly  as 
do  the  Jesuits.  The  places  where  the  members  of 
an  Order  meet  and  sometimes  reside  is  called  a 
Zaviyyeh. 

The  "  Sanusiyyeh"  Order,  founded  by  Mohammed 
u's  Sanusi,  is  now  the  most  formidable  of  all  the 
Dervish  Orders.  Its  founder  attained  celebrity  in 
Fez  about  1830.  He  was  excommunicated  by  the 
Shaikhu'l  Islam,  but  established  a  Zaviyyeh  at 
Jarabub  near  Siwa,  to  which  nocked  zealous  dis 
ciples  from  all  quarters.  When  he  died  in  I860, 
his  community  was  already  an  object  of  dread  to 
the  neighbouring  countries.  It  is  now  especially 
powerful  in  Tripoli  and  Fez/an,  is  bitterly  hostile  to 
Christian  and,  indeed,  to  all  foreign  influence,  and 
may  head  the  threatened  Pan-Islamic  struggle  when 
it  comes.  It  is  certainly  at  the  present  time  the 
mightiest  force  in  the  Islamic  world.  The  Senussis 
are  famed  for  blind  obedience  to  their  chief  and 
unlimited  fanaticism. 

The  Sufis  are  the  Mystics  of  Islam.  They  are 
mostly  professed  Shi'ites,  but  in  reality  they  are 
Pantheists  or  Freethinkers.  They  profess  to  aim 
at  union  with  God,  to  be  attained  by  absorption 
and  loss  of  personality.  A  stage  in  their  spiritual 
progress  may  be  reached  (they  held)  at  which  all 
religious  observances  are  needless.  They  pervert 
the  Koran  in  order  to  support  their  own  Pantheistic 
tenets.  For  example,  from  Surah  xxiii.  151, 


Appendices  351 

"  Verily  we  belong  to  God,  and  verily  unto  Him  do 
we  return/'  they  profess  to  prove  their  doctrine  of 
emanation  and  absorption  (ifna),  saying  that  this 
"  return  "  to  God  is  like  that  of  the  raindrop  to  the 
ocean  from  which  it  came  and  in  which  it  is  finally 
lost.  Their  teaching  leads  to  the  denial  of  any 
moral  distinction  between  good  and  evil.  Many  of 
the  mexplain  away  the  After-life,,  the  Resurrection, 
etc.  The  system  can  be  traced  back  to  the  ninth 
century. 

One  of  the  Shfite  sects  in  Persia  is  that  of  the 
Shaikhis.  This  holds  that  there  must  always  be  a 
Baby  or  "door"  of  communication  between  the 
Imam  Mahdi  and  his  people.  When  the  latter, 
during  his  "lesser  disappearance  '  (between  879 
and  940  A.D.),  was  absent  the  first  time,  he  thus 
spoke  by  deputies.  So  he  should  now.  Mirza  Ali 
Mohammed  of  Shiraz,  about  1843-44,  laid  claim  to 
be  the  "Bab"  in  this  sense,  and  hence  his  disciples 
are  styled  Babis.  Later  he  claimed  a  higher  title, 
adopting  and  developing  the  Isma'ili  doctrine  that, 
as  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  Jesus,  and 
Mohammed  were  incarnations  or  manifestations 
(mashar)  of  the  Divine  Reason,  so  was  the  Bab. 
Still  more  is  this  claim  made  for  his  successor 
Baha'ullah  ("  Splendour  of  God  "),  whose  disciples 
are  the  Bahais.  The  Bab  was  executed  in  1850. 
The  Bahai  movement  is  very  influential  in  Persia. 
They  profess  to  place  the  Old  Testament,  the  New 
Testament,  the  Koran,  and  their  own  books  on  a 
level  as  inspired  by  God,  but  they  allegorise  away 
our  Lord's  Resurrection  and  claim  for  the  Balm 
Divine  honours. 

The  Mu'tazilite  sect  was  founded  by  Wasil  in  the 
ninth  century.  His  followers  denied  the  Moslem 
doctrine  of  Fate,  and  affirmed  freedom  of  will  and 
of  action.  They  were  Moslems  only  in  name.  The 


352       The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Neo-Islamic  school  in  India  claims  to  be  a  revival  of 
this  extinct  sect.  They  reject  Tradition,  and  pro 
fess  to  found  their  belief  solely  on  the  Koran.  But 
they  have  been  greatly  influenced  by  European 
Rationalism.  They  deny  the  miraculous,  and  are 
rather  Deists  than  Moslems,,  and  bitterly  opposed  to 
Christianity. 


Appendices  353 


APPENDICES  (A)  AND  (B)1 

(a)  RELATION  OF  ISLAM  TO  PANTHEISM 
Chap.  IV.     Between  pages  134  and  135. 

IF  the  conception  of  Allah  as  Will-Power  is  seen  in  the  moral 
sphere,  in  His  dealings  with  man,  that  apparently  free  agent,  it 
is  seen  still  more  in  the  physical  sphere,  in  His  dealings  with  the 
world  of  Nature.  Just  as  every  particle  of  matter  was  created 
from  nothing  by  His  direct  decree,  so  every  cause  and  every 
effect  is  directly  the  sole  work  of  God.  That  Almighty  Will  per 
vades  the  entire  universe,  and  not  merely  sustains,  but  actually 
causes,  its  every  action.  And  so  the  blind  action  of  a  falling 
stone,  and  the  deliberate  action  of  a  living  man,  are  utterly  indis 
tinguishable  in  respect  of  Allah  ;  they  are  both  alike  the  effect  of 
the  One  sole  source  of  universal  causation — the  Will-Power  of 
Allah.  It  is  not  surprising  that  one  writer,  in  contemplating  this 
system,  exclaimed  that  it  is  simply  a  Pantheism  of  Force.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  some  thorough-going  philosophers  in  Islam 
have,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  resolved  the  whole  thing  into  a  pan 
theism  pure  and  simple  ;  that  the  cry  Allahu  akbar  (God  is  most 
Great)  means  really  that  no  element  of  force  resides  in  aught, 
but  only  in  Him  ;  that  the  Huwa  'I  Ha/ck  of  the  ecstatic  dervish 
(He  is  the  truth),  really  means,  He  is  the  sole  Reality, — nought 
exists  except  Allah.  This  is  indeed  what  is  at  the  bottom  of  all 
the  S&fi,  or  mystic  movement  in  Islam,  which  chiefly  flourishes  in 
Shi'ite  Persia.  They  are  at  bottom  pantheism  pure  and  simple, 
and  the  Moslem  S&fi  is  own  brother  to  the  Indian  Yogi :  to  each 
God  is  simply  the  Absolute,  the  One  and  All ;  to  be  reabsorbed 
into  and  lost  in  It  is  the  ultimate  object  of  the  soul. 

(b)  RECENT  CRITICISM  OF  THOROUGH-GOING  DEISM 
Page  140.     Before  '  God  as  Holiness.' 

And  in  recent  times  the  conviction  that  this  hard  deistic 
doctrine  of  God  is  barren  and  dishonouring  has  steadily  grown, 
in  proportion  as  it  has  been  realised  how  non-moral  are  the 
notions  of  Will  and  Power  in  themsdevs.  Power,  for  example, 
may  stand  for  the  strength  of  a  brute,  the  mechanical  force  of  an 
engine,  the  passionless  energy  of  the  laws  of  nature  ;  in  short,  is 
in  itself  a  physical  category,  unless  united  ever  and  always  with 

1  Space  forbade  the  insertion  of  these  passages  in  the  text  of  Chapter  IV. 


354      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

Holiness  and  Love.  It  is  the  absence  of  these  elements  that 
makes  the  Islamic  notion  of  divine  Might  appear  practically 
identical  with  mere  physical  force,.  While  as  for  Will,  has 
not  Christendom,  ever  since  Schopenhauer  delivered  his 
message,  been  unable  to  admire,  much  less  adore,  the  mere  arbi 
trariness  of  pure  Will,1  the  mere  imperious  "Thou  shalt,  not 
because  it  is  right  or  good  for  thee  or  Me,  but  because  it  is 
My  reasonless  pleasure  ? "  She  has  been  taught  to  hate  such 
a  thing  in  her  earthly  kings  ;  and  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  has  not  bid 
her  see  it  or  adore  it  in  the  King  of  Kings.  Behind  the  divine 
Will,  Christ's  Spirit  has  shown  to  her  Love  and  Righteousness 
ever  standing.  It  is  before  the  Will  of  the  Father  (not  the 
Cf.  Rom.  viii.  Despot)  that  the  Christian,  in  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  bows  and  says 
2-8.  with  adoration,  "  Not  my  will,  but  THINE  be  done  !  " 

In  fact,  modern  Christian  thought  has  more  and  more  come  to 
feel  that  loveless  will-force  is  the  contradiction,  the  very  opposite,2 
of  Christ's  revelation  of  God.  And  one  recoils  from  the  con 
ception  of  the  almighty  "  Sultan  of  Heaven,"  and  takes  refuge  in 
the  deep  bosom  of  Him  in  whose  very  essence  the  eternal  felicity 
and  beatitude  of  love  in  Father  and  in  Son,  through  the  oneness 
of  a  Spirit  of  Holiness,  was,  is  now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  with 
out  end. 

1  And,  indeed,  Schopenhauer's  terrible  conception  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Universe  as  a  blind,  blundering  Will,  always  self-assertive,  and  always 
dealing  out  suffering  and  death  in  that  self-assertion,  reminds  one  strangely 
of  the  immeasurably  mighty  Allah  with  His  unmitigated  Will  and  Power. 
For  a  fierce  satire  on  this  sort  of    deity  see  Browning's  "Caliban  on 
Setebos." 

2  Wagner,  a  typical  son  of  his  times,  found  too  much  of  Islamic  theology 
lurking  in  modern  Christianity,  and  thought  that  the  idea  of  God  itself  was 
too  dearly  bought  at  such  a  cost.     In  his  "  Parsifal,"  the  forces  that  are 
fighting  against  the  Christian  ideal  of  self-abjuring  love,  in  the  name  of 
self-assertive  will,  are  represented  typically  as  residing  in  the  Moslem  region 
of  the  earth. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  list  includes  both  ivories  of  reference  and  more  popular 
books,  but  it  is  in  no  sense  exhaustive.  The  books  likely  to  be  of  most 
'use  to  students  are  marked  with  an  asterisk. 

GENERAL 

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Author,  Mk.  2.)     (2s.,  Hachette.) 
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vols.,  12s.)     Modern  Egyptians.     (Everyman's  Library,   Is. 

net.) 

LANE-POOLE,  STANLEY.     Studies  in  a  Mosque.     (London,  1883.) 
PALGRAVE,   W.   G.     Narrative  of  a    Year's    Journey    Through 

Arabia.     (Macmillan,  3s.  6d.  net.) 

PRUEN.     The  Arab  and  the  African.     (Seeley  &  Co..  3s.  6d.) 
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(Murray,  7s  6d.) 
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Anderson  &  Ferrier,  7s.  6d,) 
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ZWEMER,  S.  M.     Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam.     (Oliphant,  Ander 
son,  &  Ferrier,  7s.  6d.) 

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356      The  Reproach  of  Islam 

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subject).  (American  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for 
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net.) 

ZWEMER,  S.  M.  The  Moslem  World.  (Young  People's  Mission 
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HISTORY 

*  ARNOLD,  T.  W.  The  Preaching  of  Islam.  An  Account  of  the 
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BONET-MAURY,  G.  L'Islamisme  et  le  Christiauismo  en  Afrique. 
The  Conflict  between  Christianity  and  Islam  in  Africa. 
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CARLYLE,  THOMAS.  The  Hero  as  Prophet  (on  Heroes  and  Hero- 
Worship).  (Routledge  Universal  Library,  Is.) 

*MARGOLIOUTH,  D.  S.  Mohammed  and  the  Rise  of  Islam.  A 
Popular  Biography.  (Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series.  Put 
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*MuiR,  Sir  WM.  Life  of  Mahomet.  4  vols.  Procure  from 
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*MuiR,  Sir  WM.  The  Caliphate  :  its  Rise,  Decline,  and  Fall. 
(Smith,  Elder,  1899,  16s.)  Procure  from  library. 

*MuiR,  Sir  WM.  Mahomet  and  Islam.  (Religious  Tract  Society, 
2s.  6d.  net.) 

SHEDD,  W.  A.  Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches  :  their  Histori 
cal  Relations.  (Bird,  6s.  6d.  net.) 


RELIGION 

AMEER  ALL  The  Spirit  of  Islam  ;  or  The  Life  and  Teachings  of 
Mohammed.  (Kegan  Paul,  5s.  net.) 

BURTON,  RICHARD.  Personal  Narrative  of  a  Pilgrimage  to  El 
Medina  and  Mecca.  (Quaritch.)  2  vols.,  12s. 

*DALE,  Rev.  GODFREY.  The  Contrast  between  Christianity  and 
Muhammadanism.  (U.M.C.A. ,  9  Dartmouth  St.,  West 
minster,  Is.) 

DODS,  MARCUS,  D.D.  Mohammed,  Buddha,  and  Christ.  (Hodder 
&  Stoughton,  3s.  6d.) 

GRANT,  G.  M.     Religions  of  the  World.     1895. 

JESSUP,  H.  H.  The  Setting  of  the  Crescent,  and  the  Rising  of 
the  Cross  ;  or  Kamil  Abdul  Messiah.  (Philadelphia,  1889). 

KLEIN,  F.  A.     The  Religion  of  Islam.     (Kegan  Paul,  7s.  6d.) 

KOELLE,  S.  W.  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism  Critically  Con 
sidered.  (London,  1888.) 

Mum,  Sir  WM.     Apology  of  Al  Kindi.     (S.P.C.K.,  2s.  6.J.) 

MUIR,  Sir  WM.  The  Koran ;  Its  Composition  and  Teaching. 
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Anderson  &  Ferrier ,  6s.) 
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10s.  6d.) 
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&  Ferrier,  4s.  net.) 
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58      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


MISSIONARY  BIOGRAPHY 

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(Marshall  B.,  3s.  6d.  net.) 
EPPLER,    C.    F.       Dr    Karl    Gottlieb    Pfander    ein    Zeuge    der 

Wahrheit  unter  den  Bekennern  des  Islam.     (Basel,  1900.) 
*GAIRDNER,    Rev.   W.    H.    T.       D.    M.    Thornton,    A  Study  in 

Missionary   Ideals    and    Methods.      (Hodder  &   Stoughton, 

3s.  6d.  net.) 
HEANLEY,  R.    M.       Memoir   of   Edward   Steere,    D.D.,   LL.D., 

Missionary    Bishop    in     Central    Africa    (esp.    chap.    xix.). 

(U.M.C.A.,  9  Dartmouth  Street,  Westminster,  4s.) 
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1900,  Id.) 

SARGENT,  Rev.  JOHN.     Life  of  Henry  Martyn.     (Seeley,  2s.  6d. ) 
*SINKER,  ROBERT,   D.D.       Memorials  of   the  Hon.   Ion   Keith- 
Falconer,  M.A.     (George  Bell  &  Sons,  7s.  6d.) 
SMITH,  GEORGE.     Henry  Martyn,  Saint  and  Scholar.     (R.T.S., 

10s.) 
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Essay  on   Founder  of    Jesuits,   including    Francis    Xavier. 

(Longman,  3s.  6d.) 
*ZWEMER,  S.  M.     Raymund  Lull,  First  Missionary  to  the  Moslems. 

(Funk  &  Wagnalls,  3s. ) 


MAP  INDEX 

The  latitudes  and  longitudes  are  given  in  degrees,  and  are  only  approximate- 
especially  in  the  case  of  provinces,  rivers,  etc. 

A  refers  to  Map—"  The  Near  East." 
B         „  „        "  The  Mohammedan  World." 

p.  6     „          „       "  Early  Centres  of  Christianity." 
p.  281  ,,  ,,        "Africa." 


NAME 

LAT. 

LONG. 

MAP 

NAME 

LAT. 

LONG. 

MAP 

N. 

E. 

N. 

E. 

Abyssinia  . 

10 

40 

B,  p.  281 

Bosnia 

44 

170 

A,  B 

Acaba  . 

29! 

35 

A 

Bulgaria     . 

43 

25 

A  B 

Aden    . 

45 

A,  B,  p.  281 

Busra  (Basra)  30 

A,  B 

Afghanistan 

32* 

65 

A,  B 

Agra    . 

27 

78 

B 

Cairo       (El 

Aleppo 

36 

37 

A,  B 

Kahira)    . 

30  1 

31 

A,  B,  p.  281 

Alexandria 

31  1 

291 

A,  B,  p.  281 

Calcutta     . 

88 

B 

Algiers 

3 

B,  p.  281 

Canton 

23 

113 

B 

Aligarh 

2l, 

78 

B 

Caspian 

43 

51 

A,  B 

Allahabad  . 

814 

A 

Caucasus    . 

44 

45 

A 

Antioch 

36* 

36 

A,  p.  6 

Celebes 

2  S, 

120 

B 

Aral  Sea     . 

45 

60 

A,  B 

Comoro 

us. 

43 

B 

Armenia     . 

40 

41 

A,  B 

Congo  . 

5S. 

15 

p.  281 

Assuan 

24 

32i 

A,  B,  p.  281 

Constan'ple 

41.2 

29 

A,  B,  p.  6 

Cordova 

37  r- 

4* 

B 

Babylon 

32i 

44 

A 

Crete  . 

35 

25 

A,  B 

Baghdad     . 
Bahrein 

33 
26 

44 

50 

A,  B 
A,  B 

Cyprus 
Gyrene 

35 
32 

33 
21 

A,  B 
B 

Balearic  Is. 

40 

3 

B 

Balkans 
Balkash      . 

43 
46 

25 

75 

A,  B 
B 

Damascus  . 
Damietta 

33 
31 

36  1 

A,  B 
A 

Balkh  . 

36* 

66 

A,  B 

Delhi   . 

28 

77 

Bannu  . 

33  1 

70 

A 

Belgrade 
Baluchistan 
Benares 

27  ^ 
25 

20 
65 
83 

A,  B 
A,  B 
B 

Ephesus 
Euphrates  . 

37* 
32 

27 
45 

p.  6 
A,B 

Bengal 
Benin  (Bight 

23 

89 

B 

Fez      . 

34 

4JW. 

B,  p.  281 

of) 

6 

6 

B,  p.  281 

Benue  . 

10 

10 

B,  p.  281 

Gambia 

13 

15  W. 

B,  p.  281 

Beyrout 
Bizerta 
Bokhara     . 
Borneo 

37* 
39* 
0 

35 
9* 
64 
115 

A,B 
p.  281 
A,  B 
B 

Gaza    . 
Ghazni 
Gibraltar    . 
Guinea 

31 
33 
36 

0 

34 
68 
5W. 
5 

A 
A 
B 
B 

359 

3<5° 

The 

Reproach  of  Islam 

NAME 

LAT. 

LONG. 

MAP 

NAME 

LAT. 

LONG. 

MAP 

N. 

E. 

N. 

E. 

Hausaland  . 

12 

6 

B,  p.  281 

Oxus  (Amu 

Hejaz  . 

25 

38 

A 

Daria)      , 

40 

63 

A 

Herat  .       . 

34 

62.10  - 

A,  B 

Hindu-Kush 

35 

70 

A 

Pamirs 

38 

72 

A 

Hippo  . 

36* 

7.45 

p.  6 

Peshawar  . 

34 

71 

A,  B 

Port  Said    . 

31 

32 

A,  B,  p.  281 

Irak     . 

32 

45 

A 

Irtish  . 

55 

75 

B 

Quetta 

30 

67 

A,  B 

Ispahan 

32* 

51.42 

A,  B 

Rhodes 

36 

28 

A,  B 

Java    . 

7S. 

110 

B 

Jaxartes 

Samarkand 

39* 

67 

A,  B 

(Syr  Daria) 
Jerusalem  . 
Jiddah 

45 

8* 

65 
35 
38 

A 
A,  B,  p.  6 
A,  B 

Sardis  . 
Senegambia 
Servia 

38 
15 
44 

28 
15  W. 
22 

p.  6 
B,  p.  281 
A,B 

Seychelles  . 

5S. 

55 

B 

Kano   . 

12 

8 

B 

Sheikh 

Kansu  . 

37 

104 

B 

Othman  . 

13 

45 

A 

Kashgar     . 

39 

76 

B 

Shiraz  . 

29 

52 

A,  B 

Khorasan    . 

34 

57 

A 

Siam    . 

15 

102 

B 

Kirman 

30 

58 

A 

Sierra  Leone 

8 

13  W. 

B,  p.  281 

Smyrna 

38 

27 

A,  B,  p.  6 

Lahore 

31 

74 

B 

Sokoto 

12 

5 

B 

Lucknow    . 

26| 

80* 

B 

Somaliland 

10 

45 

B,  p.  281 

Spice  Is. 

Madagascar 

20  S. 

46 

B 

(Moluccas) 

5S. 

130 

B 

Majorca 

39 

3 

B 

Sumatra     . 

0 

101 

B 

Malta  . 

35* 

14 

B 

Mauritius  , 

20  S. 

57 

B 

Tabriz  . 

38 

46 

A,  B 

Mayotte 
Mecca  . 

124  S. 
21 

45 
40 

B 
A,  B 

Tangier 
Thyatira     . 

35* 

38* 

5*  W. 

27* 

B,  p.  281 
p.  6 

Medina 

25 

40 

A,  B 

Tigris  . 

35 

45 

A,  B 

Mesopotamia  35 

40 

A 

Timbuktu  . 

17 

3  W. 

B,  p.  281 

Moluccas 

Tobolsk 

58 

68 

B 

(Spice  Is.) 

5S. 

130 

B 

Tokat  . 

40 

36* 

A 

Morocco 

35 

5  W. 

B,  p.  281 

Tomsk 

56 

85 

B 

Mosul  . 

36 

43 

A 

Tours  . 

47 

* 

B 

Muscat 

23 

58 

A,  B 

Tripoli 

32J 

13 

B,  p.  281 

Tunis  . 

35 

10 

B,  p.  281 

Nablus 

32 

33 

A 

Turfan 

43 

80 

B 

Najran 

Turkestan  . 

40 

65 

A,  B 

(Nejran)  . 

18 

46 

A 

Uganda 

0 

32 

B,  p.  281 

Nigeria 

7 

10 

B,  p.  281 

Nineveh 

36 

43 

A 

Yarkand     . 

39 

77 

B 

Nupe 

Yezd    .  ,    . 

32 

54 

A 

Country  . 

9 

5 

p.  281 

Yoruba 

Nyassaland 

10  S. 

35 

B 

Country  . 

8 

4 

p.  281 

Yun-nan     . 

25 

102 

B 

Obi       .       . 

60 

80 

B 

Ohod    .  ..    . 

23 

40 

A 

Zambesi 

18  S. 

30 

B 

Omsk  . 

54* 

73 

B 

Zanzibar     . 

8  a 

39 

B,  p.  281 

INDEX 


Abbas,  53-59 
Abdallah,  37,  49 
Abd-ul-Wahhab,  118,  156,  180, 

186,  198 
Abu  Bakr,  50,  52,  78,  79,  82,  83, 

91,  97,  102 
Abu  Bara,  59-60 
Abukir  Sheikh,  155 
Abu  Talib,  37,  56 
Abyssinia,  42,  53,  55,  63,  117 
Acaba,  Pledge  of,  55-60 
Acre,  235 
Adana,  193 
Aden,  254,  255 
Afghanistan,  14, 29, 108, 196-197. 

202-203,  292,  302-303,  329-330 
Africa,  20,  21-27,  77,  80,  82,  86, 

102,   116-123,   177,   201,   209- 

216,   234,   235,    249,  262-265, 

279-290 
Agra,  247,  250 
Akbar,  86,  94,  109 
Aleppo,  252 

Alexander  the  Great,  17 
Alexandria,  11,  21,  163,  256 
Algeria,    21,   22,    86,  201,    236, 

257,  263 

Aligarh  College,  205-206 
Al  Kindi,  Apology  of,  221-222 
Allah,  28,  29,  42,  43,  64,  70-72, 

83,  128-135,  140-151,  253 
Almsgiving  (Moslem)  v.  Islam 
American  Missions,  248-249,  255, 

261-262,  266-267,  276,  278,  302 
Amru,  105 

Angels,  153-154,  158,  162 
Antioch,  8 

Arab,  56,  63,  91,  93, 105-106, 107 
Arab  Movement,  80-82 
Arabia,  6,  9,  12,  29,  35-42,  61, 

63,  66-68,  72,  75,  77,  78-79,  82- 

84,  92,  93,  118,  136-137,  176- 
180,  182,  242-243 


Arabia,  Prophet  of,  18,  20,  23 

78,  314 
Arabic,   22,   229,  232-240,   242, 

243,  252, 254,  268-269, 275,  828 
Aral  Sea,  17,  80 
Armenia,  9,  11,  236,  246,  276 
Ars  Major,  230-231 
Asia,  Central,  15,  16,  18,  34,  87- 

88,  106,  110-113,  291-293 
Asia  Minor.  28,  33,  82,  89,  102, 

106-107,  193,  276 
Assuan,  11,  257,  267 
Assyria,  1,  11 
Athanasius,  11 
Atonement,  145-150 
Attributes,  Seven,  132 
Augustine,  21,  22,  220,  233 
Aurungzeb,  109 
Ayesha,  67,  75 
Azhar,  El,  165,  207,  266-274 


B 


Babylon,  1,  10,  11,  13 

Badr,  70 

Baghdad,  10,  101,  106,  111,  135 

252,  274,  327 
Bahrein,  124,  278 
Balance  of  Truth,"  "  The,  247 
Balearic  Isles,  6 
Balkan  States,  6,  82,  108 
Balkash,  17 
Balkh,  88,  111 
Baluchistan,  14,  108 
Bannu,  197,  302,  330 
Barbary  States,  21,  201 
Barca,  86 
Barotsiland,  122 
Basra,  10,  252 
Bedouin,  10,  12,  83 
Benares,  4 
Bengal,  15,  28,  109 
Benin,  24 
Benue,  23 

361 


362      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


Berlin,  Treaty  of,  108 

Bethlehem,  10,  149 

Beyrout,     28,    275,    278,     327, 

328 

Bible  Society,  241,  292 
Bizerta,  263 
Black  Stone  v.  Kaaba 
Bokhara,  17,  88,  103,  106,  111, 

256,  327,  336 

Book,  People  of  the,  42,  157 
Borneo,  20,  114 
Bosnia,  6 
Brahminism,  169 
Britain,    20,  25,  119,  125,  205- 

206,  266,  289 

Brotherhood  of  Islam  v.  Islam 
Browning,  134,  149 
Buddhist,  5,  112 
Bugia,  236,  237 
Bulgaria,  6 
Burma,  124 
Byzantine  Empire,  33,  36-38,  73- 

74,  84-85,  104 


Cairo,  28,  86,  101, 102,  134,  155, 
162,  170,  182,  183,  187,  190, 
195,  271-273,  327 

Cairo  Conference,  261,  305-306 

Calcutta,  124,  242 

Caliph,  5,  50,  52,   82,  88,   106- 

107,  135,  221 
Cambridge  Mission,  248 
Canton,  89 

Cape  Colony,  27 

Carlyle,  49,  90 

Caspian,  18,  87 

Catholic  Church,  34 

Caucasus,  9 

Cawnpore,  241 

Celebes,  20,  114,  116 

Chad,  Lake,  211 

Chaldean,  11 

China,   17,    18,    82,   88-89,  106, 

108,  112-114,    116,    209,    239, 
248,  260,  292,  293-294 

China  Inland  Mission,  293 
Chinese  Missions,  248 
Chosroes,  34 

Christ,  Spirit  of,  r.  Jesus,  Spirit 
of 


Church  Missionary  Society,  122, 
249,  255,  266,  288 

Clement,  11 

Comoro,  27 

Companions,"  "  The,  61 

Conference,  Moslem,  v.  Islam 

Confucian,  5,  19 

Congo,  25.  256 

Constantino,  33,  85 

Constantinople,  5,  32-34,  37,  43, 
84-85,  89,  106,  108,  184,  190, 
245,  247,  272,  276,  278,  327 

Controversy,  Moslem,  v.  Islam 

Conversion  to  Islam,  v.  Islam 

Copts,  11,  21,  34,  266,  267,  276- 

Cordova,  101,  181 

Cradle  of  Islam  v.  Islam 

Crete,  6,  8,  87 

Cromer,  Lord,  199,  273 

Cromwell,  91 

Crusades,  9,  89,  107,  221,  223- 

224, 226,  228,  234 
Cyprian,  21 
Cyprus,  6,  8,  89,  236 
Cyrene,  21 


1) 


Dale,  Canon,  214,  286 
Damascene,  John,  221 
Damascus,  1,  5,  6,  9,  29-30,  106, 

170,  221,  327,  336 
Damietta,  227 
Danish  Missions,  255. 
Delhi,  248,  327 
Dinapore,  241 
Dutch  Missions,  248,  294-296 


East  India  Company,  241,  260 

East  Indies,  19,  20,  106,  114- 
116,  208-209,  248,  294-296 

Egypt,  5,  6,  11,  21,  28,  33,  34. 
73,  86,  102,  104,  105,  107,  117', 
124,  151,  155,  164,  181,  184, 
187,  189,  195-196,  207,  225, 
227,  246,  256, 257,  266-277,  283 

Egypt  General  Mission,  266 

Ephesus,  8 


Index 


363 


Euphrates,  10,  13 

Europe,  77,   89,   101,  108,  223, 

231 
Evil,    Moslem     Conception    of, 

141-145 


Fasting  v.  Islam 

Fez,  263 

Flight  of  Mohammed  ?;.  Higra 

France,  20,  87,  122,  202 

Francis  of  Assisi,  St,  225,  226, 

227,  331 
French,   Bishop,    247,    249-254, 

278,  331 

Fulahs,  23,  118,  323 
Fulani,  137 


Q 


Galilee,  9 

Gambia,  268,  280 

Garden  of  Delights,  130,  151 

Georgian,  9 

German  Missions,  257,  293,  295 

Gilead.  9 

God,"  "  Path  of,  80,  93 

Great  Britain  v.  Britain 

Greece,  6,  101,  108,  112,  251 

Greek  Church,  34,  112,  256 

Guinea,  119,  121,  257,  279-280 


Hausa,  23,  118,  119,    124,  211, 

280,  282,  289-290 
Hausaland,    137,    211-214,    257, 

268,  275,  280-284 
Hejaz,  37 
Hellas,  1 
Herat,  111 
Herzegovina,  6 
Higra   (Flight   of   Mohammed), 

60-61,  106,  220 
Hindu  Rush,  16 
Hindustani,  241 
Hippo,  22 
Holiness,    Moslem    Conception 

of,  v.  Islam 


Holland,  20,  294 

Holy  War,  80,  93,  121,  161,  177 

Hormuz,  94 

House  of  Islam  v.  Islam 

Husain,  148 


Imad-ud-din,  248,  330 

Incarnation,  150 

India,   14,  16,  19,  28,  36, 


106, 


108-110,   124,    125,    137,   198, 

204-206,  241,   246,   248,   251, 

283,  290-291,  304 
India  Company,  East,  241 
Indies,  East,  v.  East  Indies 
Indo-China,  19 
Injil,  157 

Irak,  10,  38,  181,  275 
Irtish,  17 
Isaiah,  62 
Ishmaelite,  36 
Islam — 

Agnosticism  of,  146,  150-151 

Almsgiving,  161 , 165 

Brotherhood,  123 

Conception   of   God,    131  ff., 
315-316 

Conception  of  holiness,    140, 
242 

Conference,  185,  205 

Conversion   to,   101-103,   120- 
121,  125,  210-211,  283 

Cradle  of,  12,  253,  278 

Dealing  with  foes,  95-97 

Eschatology  of,  151-153 

Fasting,  161,  165-166 

and  heathenism,  210-211 

House  of,    10,    23,    164,    179, 
192,  216,  218,  262,  278,  329 

Intolerance,  262-265 

Ironsides  of,  91 

Missionaries  of,  78, 124 

Morality  of,  186-201,  214-215, 
316-319 

Persecution  of,  50-52,  53 

Pilgrimage,    27-29,    39,    161, 
178-179 

Pillars  of,  159-160 

Political    system    of,     61-64, 
91  ff.,  182-186,323-325 

Practical  duties  of,  160-169 


364      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


Islam — (continued) 
Prayers,  17,  28,  138,  161-165, 

170 

Prophet  of,  12,  63 
Reform   movements  in,    118, 
137,  156,  180,  183-186,  198- 
200,  204-208 
Religious  zeal  of,  90 
Saints  of,  154-155,  169 
Social  system  of,  103-104,  114, 

116,  169-170,  175 
Spirit  of,  198,  207 
Sword  of,  89,  90,  109 
Traders,  20,  27,  124,  208,  318- 

319 
Universality   of,    72-73,    169, 

313-314 
Women,  position  of,  186-200, 

212,  296-306,  322-323 
Zeal  for  plunder,  91 
Islamism,  Pan-,  185 
Ismail,  256 
Ispahan,  302,  327 
Italy,  33,  87,  225,  236 


Jaffir  Ali  Khan,  245 

Japan,  239,  260 

Java,  20, 114,  124,  248,  296 

Jaxartes,  17 

Jehannam,  153 

Jerusalem,  2,  9,  65,  327 

Jesuits,  116,  239-240 

Jesus,   Spirit  of.  105,  147,  171, 

172,  174,  216,'  223,  225,  238, 

257,  266,   326,  329,  331,  333, 

335 

Jenghiz  Khan,  110-111, 113 
Jews,  41-43,  52,  63,  69,  96,  100, 

140,  157,  160,  177,  184,  236, 

238 

Jiddah,  178 
Jihad  v.  Holy  War 
Jinns,  153-154 
Judea,  9 


Kaaba,  27,  39,  53,  63,  70-71,  156 
Kadesiya,  85 


Kahin,  48 

Kalima,  317 

Kamil,  Abd  -  el  -  Masih,  277, 
331 

Kansu,  19 

Kano,  23 

Kashgar,  17,  256,  293 

Kasim  Bey  Anim,  189-190 

Keith-Falconer,  Ian,  254-255, 
^278,  331 

Kermanshah  Prince,  the  secre 
tary  of,  243 

Khadijah,  38,  48,  60,  64 

Khalid,  94,  95,  96,  97 

Khedive,  155 

Khorasan,  87,  106 

Khotan,  256,  293 

Khyber  Pass,  15 

Krapf,  249 

Kubla  Khan,  113 

Kufa,  10 

Kuraish,  37,  41,  51,  54,  63 

Kuss  ibn  Saada,  43 


Lahore,  124,  251,  254,  327 
Lebanon,  1,  9 
Livingstonia,  122 
Lovat,  246 
Lucknow,  170,  304 
Lull,    Raymund,    224,    224-239, 
241,  253,  261,  275,  331 


M 


Madagascar,  27 

Mahdi,  137,  157,  186,  198 

Mahdists,  122 

Mahmud  of  Ghazni,  108-109 

Majorca,  226,  236 

Malaysia,  29,  114,  330 

Malta,  6 

Martyn,  Henry,  220,  227,   240- 

246,  250,  252,  253,  260,  291, 

331 

Mauretania,  22 
Mauritius,  27 
Mayotte,  27 
Medain,  85,  93 
Melchite  Church,  34 


Index 


365 


Mesopotamia,  10 

Messiah,  63 

Miller,  Dr  Walter,  212,  283,  289 

Mission,  North  Africa,  256-257, 

263 

Missionary  Study,  232 
Missions,  Educational,  254,  263, 

267,    274-276,    277-278,    283, 

285,  287,  303-305,  329 
Missions,  Medical,  255,  263,  267, 

278-279,  283,  296-303,  329 
Mirza  Ibrahim,  243,  244 
Mizan-ul-Hakh,  247 
Moab,  9 

Mogul,  80,  109,  137 
Mohammed  Abdu,  190,  199 
Moluccas,  114 

Mongols,  18,  28,  109-113,  116 
Morality  of  Islam  v.  Islam 
Morocco,  22,  86,  124,  201,  202, 

256,  257,  263,  268,  274 
Morris,  F.  D.,  136 
Moses,  42,  43,  60,  72,  139,  157, 

198 

Moslem  v.  Islam 
Mosul,  252,  278 
Muezzin,  10,  27 
Mullahs,  203,  204,  210,  239,  244, 

252,  302 

Muscat,  243,  252,  253 
Mu'tazilites,  135,  208 


N 


Nablus,  278 

Natal,  27 

Nestorians,  34,  112,  236 

Niger,  23,   117,  119,    124,   211, 

249,  256,  257,  268,  280 
Nigeria,  25,  280,  290 
Nile  Mission  Press,  275 
North  Africa  Mission,  256-257, 

263 
Nyassaland,  122,  286 


0 

Obi,  17 

Omar,  52,  78,  91 

Omsk,  17,  28 

Orient  and  Occident,  272 

Origen,  11 


Ormuzd,  1,  34 
Orthodox  Church,  34 
Othman,  118,  137 
Ottoman  Empire,  16,  107 
Oxus,  16,  87 


Palestine,  11,  86,  252,  275-276 

Pamirs,  16 

Pan- Anglican  Congress,  119 

Pan-Islamism  v.  Islamism 

Paradise,  43,  151-153 

Parsi,  5,  13 

Paul,  St,  102,  153,  241,  250,  268 

Pergamos,  8 

Persia,  1,  13,  33,  73,  85-86,  87, 

92,  93,  102,  110, 148,  183,  240, 

242,  245,  246,  248,  251,  276, 

296-302 

Persian  Gulf,  18 
Persian    New    Testament,    242, 

245 
Persians,  34,  36,  37,  38,  84,  101, 

104 

Peshawar,  247,  292 
Petrus  Venerabilis,  224 
Pfandcr,  237,  240,  246-248,  250, 

331 

Philadelphia,  8 
Pilgrimage  to  Mecca  v.  Islam 
Pillars  of  Islam  v.  Islam 
Polygamy,  66,  103-104, 187,  190, 

194-197,  202,  213 
Portugal,  116 
Presbyterian,  122,  249,  255,  267, 

276,  288 

Prophet  of  Islam  r.  Islam 
Punjab,  14,  15,  28,  251,  291 


Quetta,  292 


Ramadan,  161,  166 

Reform  Movements  in  Islam  •/•. 

Islam 
Revelation,  Book  of,  152 


366      The  Reproach  of  Islam 


Rhodes,  89 

Rig  Veda,  4 

Rihana,  67,  96 

Rimmon,  1 

Roman  Empire,  33,  74 

Roman  Empire,  Eastern,  33,  84, 

108 

Rome,  2,  33,  36,  67,  87,  92 
Roumania,  6 
Russia,  6,  17,  106,  110,  112,  256, 

292 
Russian,  28,  183 


Sahara,  21,  23,  29,  117,  279,  281 

Saints  of  Islam  v.  Islam 

Safdar  Ali,  248 

Saladin,  107 

Samarkand,  17,  28,  88,  111 

San  Sofia,  6 

Saracens,  9,  10,  22,  77,  107,  181, 

220,221,226,228,232,234 
Scottish  Missions,  249,  255,  278 
Seceders,  135 
Seychelles,  27 
Seljook,  106-107,  108 
Semite,  20,  41 
Senegal,  23,  117 
Senussi,  23,  120,  186,  198 
Seyyid  Ahmad,  205-206 
Shariat,  167,  184 
Sheikh    Mahmud    Boulus,    269- 

274 

Sheikh  Othman,  255,  278 
Sheikhs,  248 
Shia,  13,  148 
Shiraz,  243,  245,  252,  300 
Siberia,  17,  106,   110,  113,  256, 

268 

Sicily,  6,  87 

Sierra  Leone,  24,  209,  249 
Slavery,  26-27, 120-122,  123,  177- 

180,  192-193,  202,  213,  318,  324 
Smyrna,  8 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
*    the  Gospel,  248 
Sokoto,  23,  119 
Somaliland,  25-26 
Spain,  6,  80,  87,  102,  226 
Spirit  of  Islam  v.  Islam 
Stamboul,  28,  268 


Study,  Missionary,  v.  Missionary 

Study 
Sudan,  23,  25,  29,  117,  118, 120, 

122,  124,  137,  257,  268,  279- 

281,  290 
Sultan,  107,  108,  109,  142,  182, 

225.  227 
Sumatra,  20,  114,  208,  246,  248, 

294 

Sunni,  13,  135,  160 
Swedish  Mission,  255,  293 
Sword  of  Islam  v.  Islam 
Synesius,  21 
Syria,  1,  11,  28,  33,  36,  38,  70, 

73,  82,  85,  102,  181,  188,  252, 

275,  276 
Syriac,  11 


Tabriz,  245 

Talmud,  52 

Tangier,  263 

Tarsus,  193,  268 

Tartar,  29,  80,  256 

Tartary,  29,  256 

Tertullian,  21 

Testament,  New,  53,  147,  168, 

241,  243,  260,  270,  293,  309 
Testament,  Old,  52,  61,  129, 141, 

147,  270 
Thornton,  D.  M.,  271,  272,  273, 

274,  328,  331 
Thyatira,  8 

Tibet,  16,  17,  29,  112,  256 
Tigris,  13 

Timbuktu,  23,  117,  268,  327 
Tobolsk,  17,  110 
Tokat,  246,  253 
Tomsk,  17 
Tourah,  42,  157 
Tours,  87 

Traditions  v.  Islam 
Tripoli,  21,  86,  201,   257,   263, 

280,  282 

Tunis,  21,  86,  201,  236,  257,  263 
Turanian,  16,  20 
Turfan,  88 
Turkestan,  17,   18,  34,   82,   88, 

106-107,  110  255,  268,  292 
Turkey,  6,  12,  21,  124,  137,  181, 

183,  192,  204,  206,  252,  263, 

277-278 


Index 


367 


Turkish  Movement,  80 
Turks,  106,  137 


U 


Uganda,  26,  122,  286 
Uhud,  70 
Uk&z,  39 

Universities  Mission  to  Central 
Africa,  122,  194,  249,  286-288 


Vienna,  108 


W 

Wacusa,  74,  85 

Wahhabi,  118,  137, 156, 180, 186 


Women,  Pledge  of,  57 
Women,  Position  of,  in  Islam,  v, 
Islam 


Xavier,  239-240,  253,  331 


Yarkand,  17,  256,  293 
Yermuk,  74,  85 
Yomba,  119 
Yun-nan,  88 


Zainab,  67,  191 

Zambesi,  27,  121 

Zanzibar,  26,  209,  275,  286,  327 

Zebehr  Pasha.  120 


Zend-Avesta,  5,  13,  34,  42 
Zeus,  1 


Walis,  155,  156 

Warakah,  43 

Will  power,  Mohammedan  con-  i  Zwemer,  261,  328,  331 

ception  of,  v.  Islam  I  Zoroaster,  42 

Wolff,  246  !  Zoroastrian,  34,  41 


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